Deceptive rules:Vermillion skies
by TechNomaNcer28
Summary: HIATUS!It wasn't easy getting tangled in an adventure to save Auldrant,least of all finding herself getting attached to a colonel.Friends & foes alike,they're trapped in a world of deception and unwanted revelations.Lukear,NataliaAsch,JadexOC
1. Sudden: Meeting new people

**First things first, don't read if you don't like , so I just had to edit this first chapter, I couldn't help feeling that Anya's character wasn't that great at the beginning so I'm adding things this makes it better.I'm** **adding characters from Valkyrie profile 2-it's ok, you don't have to know the VP2 story for this so I don't own the first few characters except Anya. Please please,bear with any mary-sueness if u find,just notify me about it!!!I'm trying to make her as normal as possible!Just read till a few more chapters and see if u like her character!!T_T**

Chapter one

_Take me somewhere far, away from here to find something i've been looking for all this time_

His red eyes were clouded with concern, a distressing thought crossing his mind every time he looked at the young boy infront of him. Something about Luke's mention of memory loss was unnerving. Not a lot of things could get Jade Curtiss this way but when you knew about the darker side of a lot of things, even something like a simple amnesia could get to you. Familiar disturbances caused him to keep an eye out for the redhead ahead of him who was now shouting at Mieu in an angered manner.

* * *

"Keep your eyes focused on the opening princess", came a female authoritative shout from the direction of a young woman in an all black uniform, complete with the badges of the Academy and a crest of Garnet City.

The blonde princess of Midgard stopped in her tracks in the process of practicing her fight with a young student, Rufus who kept getting frustrated at the ease with which he defeated her.

"I'll take over" the instructor dismissed Rufus, her student who seemed more than grateful.

Princess Alicia looked downcast, "I'm no good am I Anya?" The other woman considered this and decided not to let the princess who had sneaked out to practice down.

"I wouldn't say that" Anastacia said softly, taking out a light blade that she usually tried not to use but when it came to students like that….even she had to compromise.

They began their practice like every other Undineday. True it took the princess a considerable amount of time but when she did, she was adept at it. They continued for quite a good fifteen minutes and Anya only smiled every time the princess became annoyed as the older woman blocked all her strikes.

"You should try to avoid doing this" she told her as she blocked yet another attack, "See, you always leave yourself open to strikes after every move" with that she turned around and Alicia drove her sword downwards instead of getting her and looked up. Anya brought down the sword close to the princess's neck from up.

"You need to recover fast from your attacks" Anya told her getting in position again, "We'll try once more".

A few minutes later the two were suddenly interrupted by a student who had apparently been sent by someone. Anya didn't take her eyes off her opponent and Alicia imitated her.

"Instructor Loire, Head Master Valeth asks for your presence in his office right away". At the mention of the name, Anya's ears pricked up and she looked at the student immediately.

"I'll be there right-" she was cut off when she heard Alicia's voice close by.

"Keep your eyes focused on the opening" she repeated Anya from earlier and held her own sword at the instructor's neck who seemed slightly astonished and then started laughing.

"Well, bell's about to ring for the day over any way" she told the princess, "I'll see you later. And that was quite-" she hesitated if she would make the girl feel way too happy if complimented, "-an admirable strategy. But mind you, opponents don't always tend to lose their concentration". The princess looked slightly upset but smiled and wore her long cloak again. Anya accompanied her to her own office from where the princess climbed down to the ground using a ladder and was then accompanied by one of her trusted servants.

Anya sighed and pulled her dark hair into a loose ponytail and headed straight for Lezard Valeth, the principal of Goldpine Academy where she taught. She sailed by the Academy on the first floor receiving many salutes from the students and sighed before climbing the steep stairs of Garnet City.

Garnet City, a seven leveled building that was possibly the largest structure to ever exist on Midgard apart from the Royal Castle, was home to every soldier and cadets that lived in the continent. It was where the people were trained and those who were good enough were promoted to the level of Mercenaries, a division which Anya had recently been proposed to command. When all of that was over, then it was like every other military regiment.

Anya reached the head master's room and knocked. She was admitted in and a young female student was dismissed who looked slightly in tears as she brushed by Anya.

She frowned at the young man of thirty five sitting on his chair. He looked up from the papers with a beautiful smile carved into an immensely handsome face reaching his cerulean blue eyes and brushed away his ash blonde bangs that was closer to a shade of chocolate brown.

"Take a seat." he told her and she sat with her arms crossed across her chest.

"What were you doing with the girl Valeth? She didn't seem too happy-" she began with a doubtful frown but he interrupted.

"Come now Anya, I merely informed her about her exam results. Too bad she didn't pass so she was all disappointed"

"What's that?" she asked him, noticing a gadget like device on his table. He took it up and showed it to her.

"It's a locator" he told her, "Mind you, it's not a very good one but it's a start to inventing something big".

"Wow!" she commented and examined it, "You're a genius". He smiled.

"Actually, another man helped me a bit. Someone who kept calling himself the Rose and well, he kept saying things about how he's beautiful and so on".

Anya wondered why any man would be such a …narcissist was the word in her head but dismissed it, "So what makes the _head master_ Valeth call for me?" He laughed at her words.

"Your grandfather has told me, well, it's not supposed to be out yet but I'll let you know any way. You've been made the commander of the Squads A and B of the mercenaries". He paused to see her reaction which was priceless.

"M-me? Are you sure-" she would have continued had Lezard not taken her face in his hands and whispered ever so softly, "Don't underestimate yourself". His bangs brushed against her eyes and a blush crept up her cheeks. Even after weeks of the break up, he still managed to make her feel this way. It was…nice in a way she couldn't describe.

"Valeth" she whispered, removing his hands and straightening up. She felt better this way, the restraint and control made her feel much much better, "Shouldn't I get going now?"

He shrugged, "I was wondering if you were in a celebrating mood today." In other words....was he asking her out? Again?

She pondered on this, "I could keep my schedule free whenever I wanted to. How about seven?".

"We have to go for that practice you decided last week about our little princess" he reminded her, "In the Crawsus forest?"

"No" she said, "Serdberg Mountain ruins". He looked at her questioningly.

"Why there? The place looks like it would crush us anytime".

"Scared, Valeth?" she teased him.

"Of course not. I've got you" he told her, winking behind the spectacles. She smiled and left. Really, the little flirtatious words and tones directed at her still made her feel so girlishly happy. Just a little too much. It was the way he could make a woman feel special. Heh, he was born with it, that infidel bastard.

She headed towards the higher levels where the staff accommodations were to get a change of clothes fast for their special training with the princess. There was hardly an hour left. She changed out of her damned uniform and headed outside taking her light sword along just in case. The moment she was outside the portal of the area, her grandfather, a soldier of the Garnet City who now was the head of the entire City came face to face with her. He looked at her clothes disapprovingly as to why she wasn't dressed a little more formally. But nothing was about to ruin her mood today and she hugged him tightly. Some onlookers muttered darkly about favoritism. With a small kiss on his cheek, she left leaving a slightly irritated but pleased grandfather behind.

Her mother had once comforted her saying that Yulia's apology for not bestowing her with extravagant beauty was to give her brains. Hell, she would rather choose being brainy over the belle any day and was glad for whatever she had made herself into today. A world famous, well almost famous Instructor and now a commander….Even the generals of somewhere around the Rugnican continent had trained under her three years back when they had been here for some kind of visit. Her heart fluttered happily at the thoughts.

* * *

The monsters had ambushed them and were everywhere. She cried out as a spectral knight slashed her right arm with its lance. She could hear Alicia and Leone trying to fend off the uncountable vampire bats; Arngrim performed a wrenching swing and proceeded to finish off the knight with a total end. Blood flowing freely she tried to focus on the enemy about to attack her ex, Lezard who was busy muttering a spell making a pearly glowing circle beside him. Anya took a step back and unfortunately into the circle before the spell was over. Lezard stopped abruptly and last thing she remembered was the fear in his blue eyes and she realized she had made him mess up the spell. The dull walls of Serdberg mountain ruins disappeared as a second later darkness pressed upon her forcing her to close her brown eyes. Anastacia fell face forward on the green grassland and passed out.

* * *

"Hey thing", Luke shouted out to Mieu who was trotting behind him. "Burn those tree roots", he told the cheagle.

"Yes Master", the blue cheagle replied and spat fire at the rotten tree roots to fell the tree to make way over the water.

"I wouldn't have thought of you to come up with something like that", the ruby eyed Colonel, Jade Curtiss told the seventeen year old red haired boy, his lips curving to a smile.

"You four eyed son of a-"

"Luke", Tear the only female in the party, a brunette scolded him, "Don't forget that he is a Malkuth military officer", she hissed at him.

"Any troubles?", Jade asked from behind the two teenagers.

"N-no, not at all Colonel", Tear replied with an expressionless face. Really, the faster she got the duke's son home, the better. Even though at a first sight he had seemed rather…cute, NO! She wasn't thinking anything of the sort. She was an oracle knight for Yulia's sake. At the moment however, all she had been dealing with was boundless whininess and was more than willing to get away from this. But the arrival of the colonel was…disturbing in a way, a gut feeling anyhow.

"There's someone there", the Fon master Ion, a naïve young boy not more than sixteen suddenly exclaimed.

"What?", Luke asked confused as Jade's lance appeared out of nowhere in his hand.

Mieu scampered forward on his tiny legs, "she's asleep", he told them and they relaxed.

Cautiously, Jade made his way to the fallen figure on the grass with the others following behind. He kneeled down beside the fallen figure, checking for the pulse on her neck that beat feebly.

Anastacia stirred slowly as she heard voices and felt a strong pair of arms under her back. She opened her eyes only to look up to a pair of ruby red eyes framed with glasses.

"You-you have red eyes?", she asked the man in a distracted voice and cursed herself inwardly for the stupidest comment she had ever made._ What the hell were you thinking saying that?_

Jade stared with his usual impassive face as he helped her to sit up.

"Do you think you can walk? I have my ship waiting nearby.", he informed her, "Or Luke here can carry you-"

"It's alright", Anastacia interrupted blushing at the good looking stranger who looked to be about not more than twenty seven or so, "Really, there's no need for the concern", she told him standing up on weakened legs and wincing slightly at the sight of a trickle of blood on her wrist. She probably had scratched herself in the fall and sure saw a thorny bush closeby.

"So who exactly are you?", Luke asked her before anyone else.

"Anastacia", she answered without giving her last name. If there was something she had taught herself, it was to never give out a real name. Unfortunately, Mr. Red Eyes didn't look convinced but let it go anyway.

"So do we like have to protect you too or what?", Luke asked rudely acknowledging her lack of any weapon and glancing at Ion who looked downcast at the comment.

Glaring at Luke, Tear stepped forward to introduce herself, "I'm Tear.

"And I'm Fon Master Ion", the dark haired girly looking boy introduced himself.

"Colonel Jade Curtiss, Third division of the Malkuth Imperial forces", Jade shook her hand.

"Colonel Curtiss?" she asked in slight disbelief. Was this _the_ Jade Curtiss? What ever were Lady Luck's intentions today? But if he was here…where exactly was she?

She looked at the red head and he grudgingly answered, "Luke, just Luke".

Anya realized that she wasn't the only careful one today.

"Shall we proceed?", Jade asked them.

"To the Cheagle's tree then?", Ion reminded them.

Anya's eyes widened a little.

"Ch-cheagles?", she asked disbelievingly. Sure she did know they were sacred beasts but again, religion wasn't the first thing on her everday list, not that she was an atheist but things like that just didn't seem imporatnt.

"Cheagle. Me", a cute little blue creature with extraordinarily large ears jumped up and answered her, "Hi Anastacia, my name's Mieu". It was so cute, Anya wanted to pull its cheeks but Luke interrupted.

"Shut up already Thing", Luke shouted out to Mieu and kicked the creature…wait was it female or…

"You're all getting to me now", he told them frustrated, "First Ion and now some other helpless girl arrives so I have to-"

"I am _not_ helpless; you don't have to be my knight or anything." she told him with a smile, "I am capable of taking care of myself", Anya added. Luke was just a little immature. That was all. She could deal with this.

"A little girl with no weapon?", Luke scoffed.

"Honestly Luke." she sighed, "I'm a woman", she told him as if he didn't see that.

"Right. I saw that already", he told her after a glance at her chest which wasn't revealed at all but the form-fitting sleeveless white shirt did add a nice effect.

"Hey Red-", she started and then simply decided to leave with a smile she hoped looked creepy and headed off ahead where the Colonel was leading the rest of them.

Out of nowhere a wood golem lunged at Ion who dodged slightly but still fell from the impact. Luke started battling it. 'Havoc strike' Luke shouted and Anya was off in a second to join the fight. She threw a kick at it from behind so that it growled in pain and turned to her instead. It hadn't been a great idea though she realized when she felt the after effects of teh punch. Aiming a roundhouse kick at the pathetic creature she smirked slightly as it hit the golem full in the face. Tear began casting nightmare leaving the monster drowsy and at Jade's cry of 'Prism sword' pink crystalline structures fell from upwards during which everyone took advantage and Anya tried everything she could think of and then resumed their walk to the cheagle's tree with Tear complimenting Anya's skill; Ion thanking her and then explaining about Cheagles being sacred beasts.

Everyone except the Colonel went inside the gigantic tree at which Anya 'oohed' and 'wowed'. For beasts, Anya expected something larger and scarier thinking maybe Mieu was still a new born. Within two minutes they were out walking towards their next destination.

Jade spared the newcomer a few moments' glance. Shoulder-length dark hair curled at the ends framed a face which wasn't to be called beautiful yet it was pretty enough not to be plain. Her attire with gave her an air of care-free spirit. Feeling a pair of eyes on her, Anya turned to look at the Colonel whose name she had heard so , this was one man she was sure anyone in the world would know.

"Thanks a lot for all the 'saving me' and all that but shouldn't you be a little more-" she hesitated, "-cautious?", she asked him, "I could've been an enemy for all you know". She hadn't expected the usual careful colonel; very well known for his punishment methods to be so comfortably travelling with teenagers who weren't handcuffed…Did he have any other intention?

He tilted his head to a side, "You seemed like a civilian to me. Besides, would you rather spend your time here looking for the exit yourself? If so, be my guest", he told her motioning with his gloved hand.

She stared at the man incredulously, "Never mind. Where are we headed to anyway?", she asked him politely trying to keep up the conversation.

"The 'Tartarus', my battleship", he informed her once they reached the exit, "Ah, Anise. Everything okay? What's the status of the Tartarus?", he was talking to another dark haired girl with two large ponies on either side of her head who looked about thirteen.

"Just as you ordered. It's in the front of the forest. You said to hurry so we came as fast as we could", she informed the Colonel with a proud smile.

"As for being the enemy", he turned back to a startled Anya, "we'll see onboard".

Before anyone could say another word, Jade ordered the two knights to arrest Luke, Tear and Anya, "Restrain those two, they are the ones emitting the seventh fonons and take her along", he pointed to Anya.

"Hey!" Luke shouted in protest as two guards held him tightly, "What the hell is this supposed to be?" Anya didn't even speak as she realized that Jade had indeed taken preventive measurements. _Serves me right i guess_.

"Please don't do anything to hurt them", Ion pleaded the Colonel.

"Not unless they want to resist. Be good now kids", with that they all made their way to 'The Tartarus'.

**So, what do ya think?Is this better?I certainly find this are always appreciated, I don't mind criticisms and ways to improve but I'm sure you've got better things to do than flame me.**


	2. Lost in Malkuth

Chapter 2

_I just want to go home already, I've never had so much to think of. Is this too much to ask for?-Luke_

Luke, Tear and Anya were shoved into a room of 'The Tartarus' on Jade's orders. While Jade went off for some unfinished work promising to be back for questioning, the trio was joined by Anise and Ion who were both quite friendly where Anise was the more talkative one. Somehow ten minutes passed away quite fast for everyone except Luke who wouldn't do anything but whine.

The door opened and the prisoners immediately fell silent.

"So why exactly have we been arrested?", Luke asked as soon as Jade stood in front of them.

"The seventh fonon hyperresonance came from the direction of Capital of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear and converged inside Malkuth territory near Tataroo valley. Now if you two were of that hyperresonance that would make you guilty of illegally crossing the border into our country", Jade told them.

"Colonel", Tear spoke out, "This didn't happen intentionally. I didn't know Luke here was also a seventh fonist and the hyperresonance took us to Tataroo Valley. It wasn't an act of aggression against Malkuth by house Fabre. We were on a coach and the coachman misunderstood our destination to Baticul for Grand Chokmah. He dropped us at Engeve from where we were trying to get back to Baticul when Luke wanted to investigate the Cheagle business." She told him without pausing.

Anya realized Tear was just as resolute as her to _not_ get in trouble right now. Where on Midgard was she? Or wait…Malkuth, she possbibly couldn't be-

"What else do you want to know?", Luke asked in a frustrated tone interrupting her thoughts.

"Starting with your names would be preferable", the colonel answered and added, "Full names", when Luke was about to argue.

"I'm Luke Fon Fabre", the red head told him, "The one you tried to kidnap".

"Fabre? Son of Duke Fabre who married into Kimlascan Royal Family?", Jade asked interested suddenly and then turned towards Tear who answered, "Tear Grants,Locrian Sergeant, First platoon oracle knight's intelligence division under Grand Maestro Mohs' command".

"A duke's son. Ooh?", Anise suddenly commented in a singsong voice peering at Luke.

Anya looked at them in amazement. The colonel and the girl named Tear were important people alright.What had she gotten herself into anway_?_

"What about you Anastacia...?", Jade asked her purposely leaving a blank in his sentence .

" Loire,", she told him seeing no point in lying anymore, "And call me Anya please".

"Alright. Anya then, from Kimlasca?", Jade asked.

"No", she told him in a small voice "Where did you say we are right now?".

"Malkuth", was his short answer.

Anya had already drifted off into her thoughts and looked vaguely around the room for a world map and found one on the right wall. She stepped off the couch and made her way to it. '_Just as I expected, far far away from home'_ she thought and rubbed her forehead with a sigh.

"What?", Luke's shout brought her back to reality, "You don't even know your place's name. Geez-"

"Well?", the colonel interrupted Luke, Anya could feel his patience wearing off.

"I am assuming you can answer, I mean you just didn't drop down from heaven, now did you?", Jade asked her in a calm sarcastic tone.

"As a matter of fact, I did", she replied back and mentally hit herself knowing just how it sounded.

"My, my, is that so?", the colonel's smile was inevitable as he pushed up his glasses.

"I was back at the Serdberg Mountain ruins in Midgard that is, when a friend cast a teleport spell to save us from the monsters and I alone got transported here due to circumstances", she told him in a distant voice remembering everything slowly, " And then I remember falling down into the Cheagle woods so technically, I did fall from the sky you know?", she added innocently.

"Midgard?", Jade asked her, "That's quite far from Malkuth. Infact, it's isolated from the rest of the continents".

"Opposite sides of the planet", Ion mused out and Anya nodded, "that's why I'm a little unaware about some of the things you all are talking about. Things are different in Midgard", she informed them, "But I've been told about this place, you know the conflicts between Kimlasca and Malkuth".

"Conflicts?", Luke asked in general.

"You seem to be the only one who doesn't know anything about it", Tear told him.

"We're headed for Kimlasca under the orders of Emperor Peony the Ninth who has proposed a formal peace treaty between Kimlasca and Malkuth", Jade told the new comers.

"Peace treaty?", Luke asked, "Relations between the countries are that bad?".

"I'll second Tear", Anya said knowing this was going to annoy him to no end.

"Jade, why don't we ask for their help?", Ion asked the colonel.

"That's quite a good idea actually", Jade said, "Even as peace emissaries, we are from the enemy territory therefore it would be much easier if we could have the advantage of your social status", he explained Luke.

" Didn't anyone ever teach you to bow down to respect when asking for a favor?", he asked the colonel arrogantly.

The colonel sighed and knelt on a knee surprising everyone, "Please, Master Luke, would you be kind enough so as to grant us your aid in our mission?" at which Luke agreed grinning.

"By your leave, Master Luke, I have other business to attend to", with that Jade turned to leave the room.

"Stop calling me 'master', coming form you it just sounds wrong", Luke told Jade.

"Oh. I won't, 'master Luke'", Jade said once again smirking and left the room before hearing Luke's outburst at Jade's attitude.

For the next fifteen minutes when Anise had dragged Luke outside for exploring, Tear and Ion explained Anya the life in their part of the world. Anya had particularly been interested in the concept of Artes.

"Back at our place, artes are taught to military people of very high ranks only. It's because you have to be exceptionally skillful to master artes fully and well,the weapons have to be strong enough too. Midgard maybe a kingdom but it's small." Anya was explaining now, "Anyway, the weapons we use are different-"but before she could proceed however, she was interrupted by a sudden loud noise from outside. Tear and Anya sprinted outside, to check the problem when they saw Jade communicating Bridge through an intercom and a terrified Luke who was being restrained by Tear.

"Get me out of this thing", they heard Luke scream out in a high pitched voice.

"Griffins are attacking in horde", Jade informed them, "Ligers too-" suddenly the Tartarus tilted to a side dangerously preceded by an exploding noise which was probably the Ligers attacking the hull.

"Luke, we cannot go out at this-" Tear started reasoning with Luke.

It happened in a flash. Luke broke out of Tear's grasp and ran forward looking for a way out when a large man in black with a scythe pinned Luke to the wall.

"I've been wanting to cross blades with you, Colonel Jade Curtiss, third division of the Malkuth imperial forces or better known as Jade the necromancer", the intruder told Jade in a deep hoarse voice.

_Of course, _it clicked Anya just why Jade was so familiar apart from his military status. _Grandpa used to talk about him all the time to scare off her little sister…_ what stories he would make up.

"Jade the necromancer? You?", Tear's visible eye was wide.

"I see, I'm quite famous among the God-generals, Largo the Black Lion", the colonel coolly replied.

Apparently the intruder was called Largo and he informed at once that he had come to take the fon master with him to which request Jade denied immediately.

Anise and Tear shifted to a battle stance when Largo pressed the blade of his scythe threateningly against Luke's throat, "Don't move if you don't want this boy's head to roll" at which Tear looked troubled. Jade lunged with his spear at the big man who imitated Jade and they both missed each other narrowly.

"Mieu", Jade called out in the disturbance, "Fifth fonon at the ceiling. Light it", he ordered and Mieu did as such. In the distraction that followed, Jade had Anise run off to get the fon master out and safely away.

"Well well", Largo slashed the air with the scythe threateningly towards Jade.

"You plan to take me on single-handed?", Jade asked with a slight smirk._ Gosh, the guy was obnoxious alright._

"If I have your fon slots sealed, it wouldn't be much of trouble", Largo replied and threw a dice-like object over the colonel. The colonel was trapped in a light spherical shield. He groaned as if in pain and fell to his knees on the ground.

As soon as Largo saw his chance, Tear began her nightmare fonic hymn which drowsed him. Jade's lance appeared out of nowhere in his hand and he stabbed the Black Lion.

Luke was once again terrified, "He-he stabbed him". Anya knew how he was feeling.

"There's not much time", Jade told them, "Let's take the bridge from the back".

Jade and Tear immediately made their way outside but Luke continued to stare at the spot where Largo was lying in a pool of blood.

"Come on", Anya told him and stood in front of him to shield him from the bloody sight and taking hold of his hand lightly as she would a child.

"Huh?", Luke's eyes were unfocused, "Yeah, yeah", he said and followed her outside.

* * *

"It's just that I'm not used to killing alright", Luke was arguing with Tear who was lecturing him on 'kill or be killed'.

The five of them were about to reach the exit when shards of glass fell towards them from the sky and a black figure with flaming hair dropped down to where Luke was standing, "Why do you even keep that sword on you if you're so scared, you reject", the new man growled at Luke and slashed his arm and kicked him in the abdomen with a look filled with pure revulsion and resentment.

Tear was about to attack but the man caught sight of her and much the same way as Luke, slashed her side making her drop down on the floor.

"And you're as hard to kill as they say, Necromancer", he told Jade whom he had been about to attack but had dodged and now had summoned his weapon.

"Asch!", a sapphire eyed woman in black called out to the red haired man, "Have you forgotten your orders?" with that the woman turned a stoic beautiful face framed with large blonde tendrils towards the Colonel. She pointed a gun at him and jerked her head towards the weapon in his hand. Jade sighed in defeat and dropped the lance.

"All right then", Asch agreed after the blond beauty had sprinted off somewhere else, "Take them all inside", he told the oracle knights. Suddenly he felt his jaw almost break as a foot contacted with his face. So he had missed this new traveler who had till now remained in the shadows.

"Don't even try", he shouted to her, blood in his mouth, as he dangled his sword above the unconscious figures of Luke and Tear.

Anya hesitated and then slumped, giving up as all of them including Mieu were taken to a cabin in the Tartarus.

"Luke, Luke!", Tear called, "Wake up".

"Wait mom", Luke sleepily called out, "Just two more minutes".

Anya giggled at the indignant expression on Tear's face and took over waking him up instead.

"Luke", she cooed gently and then, "WAKE UP!", she shouted in his ear and immediately he woke up looking around for a monster but instead found Anya in a fit of laughter on the floor beside the bed he was now sitting on.

"Why did you do that?", he asked infuriated.

"Nice sleep Red?", she choked out between peals of laughter, "Sorry. You just looked so cute", she told him and pinched his cheek.

"Hey!", he jerked her hand away blushing, "Quit saying things like that".

"Now that Luke's over with his slumber, shall we prepare for an escape?", Jade asked them.

"Well what happened?", Luke asked, "And where are we?".

"In a cabin onboard the Tartarus", Jade informed him pushing up his glasses.

"We were attacked and you killed that Largo guy", Luke said in a small voice remembering the past events, "And to escape there will be more deaths".

"Luke, you're a civilian", Anya told him gently, "It's natural for you to react like this but like Tear said, it's now 'kill or be killed'".

"I know, I know", he told her, "But let's not kill any more than we have to alright?".

"Human life is very valuable", Jade said softly.

"But right now we have war at hand", Tear explained, "If we don't hurry, then even more lives will be lost".

"But what about your weapons?", Anya asked them.

"Let's look for them. They wouldn't have taken them that far", Jade stated.

With that the party made their way outside cautiously checking for any patrolling guards and fortunately found none.

As they began checking out the rooms for their weapons Jade had drifted off toward a device on the wall and was now speaking into it.

"By my name as Necromancer, heed my command. Initiate emergency plan 'Corpse Hunt'. No sooner than Jade finished talking, the Tartarus lurched to a full stop and all the lights flickered feebly before throwing them in darkness.

"It's an emergency shutdown system I set up in advance", he told them ushering into a room nearby.

They entered and found a large chest where their weapons were kept unguarded. The thought struck all of them as unusual.

"Funny they weren't even guarding them", Luke commented.

"At the moment everyone is busy trying to operate the Tartarus", Jade told them and made his way to the adjacent room.

"This is where we will find something fun", Jade informed them.

As far as Anya could see the room was only filled with boxes. She was about to ask the colonel when he answered, "Oh. It's behind the boxes".

"So we'll just have to move the boxes right?", Anya asked. The colonel nodded at which Tear grabbed a box and began moving it.

"A woman doing all the work?", Jade started, "Luke I must say, this doesn't make me think so highly of you anymore. Or do aristocrat boys lack muscles?".

Luke, incensed approached the boxes and pushed Tear out of the way at which she thanked Luke, blushing.

As soon as Luke had the boxes out of their way, they hurried to the rear of the room where they saw a large box.

"That's your something interesting?", Luke asked the colonel bored.

But Anya recognized the logo on the box immediately and gasped disbelievingly.

"Colonel!", Tear spoke out, "Is that gunpowder?".

"Yes", he replied, "I found out that some of my crew was trading gunpowder from Midgard. They are the best quality found, isn't that so Anya?", the colonel asked glancing at her direction at which she nodded.

"So we're going to blow this wall up by lighting the box using fonic artes?", Tear asked.

"No", the colonel told her, "We'll use Mieu. Mieu, you're on".

"Yes sir", the cheagle eagerly stepped forward and ejected fire at the box. The effect was instantaneous and part of the wall was blown away.

Luke backed up into the wall behind him,_ I swear they're not human. How can they watch an explosion going off in their faces so calmly? _

"Good work 's go", the colonel led them outside the Tartarus where they found the blond intruder holding ion captive.

Jade immediately switched to a fighting stance and dodged the shots from the blonde's gun and was soon facing her.

"Tear, now", the colonel ordered at which the blond turned her head sideways, "Tear? Tear Grants?", she asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Major Legretta?", Tear seemed equally surprised.

The fon master, seeing his chance attempted to run back towards Luke, Anya and Tear but was blocked by Legretta.

"No one moves", she commanded in a cold voice pointing her guns at them and sparing a moment's glace to another comrade, a pink haired young girl whose face was half hidden behind a doll.

"Arietta. What about the Tartarus?", Legretta asked her.

"It's still inoperable", she informed the blonde.

Suddenly Anya looked up to see a black dot in the sky approaching the ground fast. A second later, a human figure dropped down and moved so fast that he was a blur. Snatching up the fon master, he sprinted between the two females towards where Luke was standing.

"Enter the amazing Guy", the newcomer announced with a smile straightening up his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, "Never thought I would find you in a place like this", he turned to Luke.

"Aaah", they heard a small female voice squeak out and turned to see Jade holding the tip of his lance against Arietta's neck, "Leave, or she dies", he announced.

The major, Legretta looked troubled and decided to obey the Necromancer's command.

"Ion", Arietta looked up at the fon master with tears in her eyes.

"Arietta", Ion replied back, "Please do as he says" at this Arietta nodded and headed inside the Tartarus after Legretta.

"Oh well", Jade started, "Now that that's taken care of let's head for St. Binah".

"Why?", Luke asked.

"That's our rendezvous point with Anise", Jade told them and headed towards the field immediately with the others following.

_Rendezvous?_ Anya thought with a smile, _Nice choice of words_.

**Okay readers, once again this chapter is just like the game's story but for the first few chapters this is how it has to be. The actual change of the story doesn't come until Akzeriuth and I couldn't think of putting on any skit like things so please 4give me. If anyone has any ideas, help would be appreciated. And Please review, at least I'll know that some1's reading this thing. **


	3. Anise,Arietta and Artes

Chapter three

_Oh Luke, where is he? I want to see him so much. OOPS! I think i'm blushing. Anise_

The journey to took the rest of their day. The fon master's exhaustion made them stop for a while when Guy introduced himself as a servant in Duke Fabre's manor. He had been polite enough shaking hands with the Colonel and Ion but had lunged miles away when Tear approached trembling violently. The closer Tear went to him the more he backed away and Luke had explained that Guy didn't like women much which Jade had interpreted as a phobia. Anya had kept her distance from him then although occasionally striking up conversation on fontech. It had almost surprised her to see the eagerness with which Guy discussed the subject. However they were attacked by oracle soldiers and in the struggle Tear had come between Luke and the soldier about to slay him and instead had her shoulder cut. So they had been forced to spend the night camping outside. What Anya had learned though, was that her combat wasn't much of help against animals and therefore lurked around the fon master.

Upon nearing the gates of the next morning, however the group caught sight of oracle soldiers who were now in charge of retrieving the fon master.

"This is troubling", Tear said out loud, "We cannot pass undetected".

They heard the hooves of horses and slight jangling of a coach behind them.

A man from inside informed the oracle soldiers stationed at the gate, "We're from Engeve. There's another coach right after us", the soldiers nodded and permitted their entrance.

"And conveniently enough, there's a coach on its way", Jade mused out and everyone except Luke took the hint that they were going to get into the coach and pass.

"Hey, stop making decisions without me", Luke shouted out after everyone made their way towards the approaching coach.

Tear walked back to him, "Luke, grow up", she stated bringing her face close to his and then stalked off towards the others.

Luke came running and stood in the way of the coming coach, "STOP!".

"Oh it's you", the driver of the coach who happened to be none other than Rose, the mayor of Engeve exclaimed, "Fon master Ion and Colonel Jade Curtiss?".

"We are in need of your assistance", Ion told her after motioning towards the oracle soldiers at the gate.

"Hop in all of you", Rose told them and they obeyed immediately.

After a minute of travelling they heard Rose, "A coach of ours passed by here few minutes back", at which the soldiers grunted in permission and they made their way through the archways to St. Binah. The group got off and thanked Rose.

"Well, Anise should be at the 's place if she's still alive that is", the Colonel announced as though talking about the weather. Anya and Luke stared at him in disbelief.

"You don't have to say it like that", Luke almost shouted at the Colonel.

"Anise is tougher than you'd think", Ion informed them smiling.

"Now that that's over, why don't we check with Mc. Govern?", Jade asked.

"You're unbelievable", Guy muttered.

They were shown inside to a conference room where an old man with two feet of snowy white beard and hair in bright clothes was seemingly arguing with a younger man who could only be a soldier by his attire.

"I'm sorry for the intruding", Jade told the pair as soon as the six of them entered.

"Ah. Jade", the older positively beamed with happiness while the younger man frowned slightly in distaste.

"It's been a while, Field Marshal McGovern."

"I'm retired now," he replied with a shake of the head, "There's no need for formalities like those anymore. And what about you? Isn't it about time you accepted a promotion? Even at your age, you could easily have made Lieutenant General by now."

The Colonel only smiled and replied, "Actually, I seem to have my hands full enough just being a Colonel".

"Is Jade someone important?", Luke asked and Anya replied, "Yes. He is known for his unbeatable position in a battle even by the most respected military people in all of Auldrant and he's known to be Emperor Peony's personal confidant".

Before Luke or Guy could however ask how she knew all this Jade passed a letter from Anise that he had been reading earlier to the trio behind him, "Luke half of this letter seems to be addressed to you".

Surprised, Luke began reading the letter.

_Hey Colonel, I was so scared for a moment but I'm alright and I'm taking good care of you-know-what. The oracle soldiers and god-generals seemed to have infiltrated St. Binah so I've already made my way to Kaitzur. And oh how's my beloved Luke, oh I can't believe I just confessed my feelings I'm so embarrassed. Luke I miss you so much. Anyway give my greetings to Ion. Bye-Bye. Love Anise._

"Getting popular with the girls huh?", Guy asked the red head slapping him on the back a little and Luke looked as though he was going sick.

"So where's our next journey?", Tear asked not participating in the humor the others enjoyed.

"Kaitzur", Jade told them, "We'll meet up with Anise there. Thank you for your assistance", he added to the with a slight curtsy, "We will bid you our leave".

They made their way outside when a villager passed by complaining about a broken bridge leading to Kaitzur.

"Well, looks like we'll have to take the long way then", the Colonel announced with a sigh. Just as Anya was about to ask their route she was pulled by Tear to a corner with the others. When she looked questioningly the Colonel answered, "It's the God-Generals".

"You mean the ones who attacked us on The Tartarus?", she asked and he nodded.

Outside, a short boy with a mask and unusually spiky green-grey hair was talking inaudibly with Legretta and Largo. They seemed furious about whatever was the topic of their discussion and occasionally heard snatches of Jade or Ion's name.

"", suddenly they heard a high pitched laughter and looked up to see an exquisitely white haired man sporting white sunglasses sitting cross legged on a chair which was hovering few feet off the ground.

As he spoke, his drawling yet slightly feminine voice was louder than the rest of his comrades, "I told you before, it is I, the one and only elegant 'Dist the Rose' who can match up to that beastly 'Jade the Necromancer'".

"You mean Dist the Reaper?", they distinctly heard the green haired boy comment at which the man called Dist started calling him names which the latter ignored and turned back to speak with Largo and Legretta once again.

"So we head for Kaitzur?", Legretta asked, "It will likely be their next stop".

"First division", Largo ordered the soldiers stationed at the gate, "Withdraw".

"Hey! Stop ignoring me", Dist screamed out and the other three made their way away from St. Binah. They could see Dist talking to himself and then fly away.

"I see that Largo survived", Jade was the first one to break the silence and everyone followed this as their cue to safety.

"Who were those people?", Luke asked.

"Members of The Six God-Generals of the Order of Lorelei", Guy told him, "There's Largo the black lion, Legretta the quick, Sync the Tempest and Dist the Rose all of whom we just saw. There's Arietta the wild and the only one we didn't see was Asch the bloody", he concluded.

"They are Van's immediate subordinates who work under his commands. By the sound of it, they were looking for war", Tear explained when Luke still looked vague.

"Master Van wouldn't try to start a war", Luke shot back, "It's Mohs who's doing that".

"Grand Maestro Mohs' wishes are of peace", Tear returned.

"Can we please rest here for a while?", Ion suddenly asked them and indeed the boy looked so bloodless that even Luke was concerned, "Hey, you look pale. How about staying in the inn till evening?", he asked at which everyone nodded.

"Oh well, I guess I don't have a problem", the Colonel shrugged, "My old bones do get worn-out after a long journey", with that he made his way to a shop to refill their supplies.

"How about getting an actual sword, Luke?", Guy asked eyeing his wooden sword.

"Oh yeah", Luke said, "Let's go".

"I'll accompany you", Anya said from behind Guy and he jumped a foot away muttering something about her going alone. She sighed, "I'll need a weapon too you know. Let's go", she pulled Luke away before Guy could say another word and was forced to follow.

Soon enough both Guy and Luke had found a Cutlass and a Rapier for themselves that seemed the best in the shop's collection of bow and arrows; light swords and double blades. However Anya was having trouble, "there are no weapons of my type here", she mumbled when the shopkeeper asked her if she needed help.

He looked a bit surprised and told her that there was another shop near the large tree where she might find something and she happily pranced out of the shop.

She found the shop quite fast and studied the weapons on the wall. Having used heavy swords in training, thanks to her grandpa's constant reminder of keeping the family tradition alive, she was disappointed at the lack of her 'type' of weapons and was about to leave when the shopkeeper arrived and aided her in finding a suitable sword, a little surprised that a female should be using such weapons.

"Zweihander, a beauty isn't it?", he stroked the bronze hilt, "It'll be 2040 gald", he told her when she seemed to have made up her mind.

She counted out the money and swung the sword over her shoulder like she used to in Midgard and made her way to the inn. She asked where Colonel Curtiss was and was pointed to a room immediately.

As soon as she entered humming a little, she found Guy's eyes wide and Luke's jaw open. Tear and Ion simply looked surprised and Jade had a slight smile which Anya thought suited him much better than his usual stoic expression.

"What?", she snapped when no one spoke for seconds.

"Y-you're going to fight with that t-thing?", Luke stammered pointing at the sword in her hand.

"Oh no", she told him her voice dripping with sarcasm, "Actually when we start getting cold, I'll need this to chop firewood". She heard Guy's stifled laughter and turned to see Tear and the Colonel wearing amused expressions.

"You're an unusual warrior", Ion told her. _Ah, warrior_ Anya thought,_ that just makes me sound a lot cooler than I really am._

"Hey Jade! Are you alright? I mean with that fon slot seal and everything?", Luke asked the colonel.

"Oh yes, thank you for the concern", Jade replied.

"Master", Mieu piped up, "You're so considerate".

"No, I'm not", Luke snapped at Mieu blushing.

"So what happens with fon slots sealed?", Anya asked sitting next to Ion.

"The seal reduces my capability to use certain artes", Jade explained, "Its password keeps varying periodically. I'm unlocking it little by little, it will take some months to undo the seal. But nevertheless, I can keep up with all of you at my present condition", he finished with a slight smile.

"You're obnoxious", Luke and Anya said at the same time.

Jade shrugged "It is just in my nature to be honest".

"Well then", Luke said, "Let's leave Ion to the mighty old man over here".

Everyone except the Colonel and Ion made their way to the other room they would be sharing.

After three hours of rest to which Luke had wanted to add an hour more until Jade threatened to leave him here, the group made their way to Fubras River. If they could get to the other side of the river they would reach Kaitzur port and onto Kaitzur by sea as Jade had explained.

Occasionally when they ran into monsters Anya now tried out her new sword. It was lighter than her gunblade Venus and she found it easier to control. Although her attacks didn't include artes about which she made a mental note to ask Tear about it, there were no complaints from anyone save for Luke.

Once within the banks of Fubras River, Jade stopped them suddenly.

"Luke, I've been watching you fight and it seems that you don't possess the knowledge of skills particularly concerning artes", he told the red head who fumed immediately.

"What the heck did you just say?", he began, "Master Van taught me all that I need to learn alright. Why should I bother with something unnecessary?", he stated turning his back making his way forward.

"Luke", Anya shouted out in a strict fashion much more suitable for a professor, "Jade's a professional. I think you really should heed what he says and that reminds me", she turned to the colonel, "I was wondering if I could learn to perform artes too?".

The colonel pondered this for a second and then agreed to which Anya beamed, her cute self returning while Luke swore under his breath. Teaching artes didn't take long. Jade was particularly surprised at the ease with which she learnt and improved her mistakes where Luke was only getting annoying by the second. He moved onto explaining Field of Fonon change, Tear aiding him with which Anya had a little trouble and Luke mastered the basics.

They made their way once more, Anya muttering to herself no doubt trying to comprehend fully everything Jade explained.

"It's alright", Jade told her coming up beside her and startling her out of her thoughts, "One cannot get everything right at the first try. You had some basic concepts of artes or at least may have tried before, I'm guessing".

She smiled, "You're guessing wrong then aren't you?", it was more of a statement.

"But a civilian and a first timer couldn't get hold of things that fast", he told her, "You're a good liar I must admit".

"I don't lie", she simply told him, "And besides, learning is the only thing I was ever good at", she talked more to herself than him and for a moment a melancholy shadow passed over her features. But the next second she looked up at him with an animated smile again, "You should be glad I'm not wasting more of your precious time", with that she trotted forward to annoy Luke and scare Guy again. It had become a sort of game overnight where she materialized everywhere possible near the duo and crooned 'Guy'. It seemed the Necromancer wasn't the only one behind masks.

Tear who was in the front gasped suddenly and they saw a liger blocking their path.

"There's someone behind it", Jade stated and sure enough the pink haired God-General, Arietta the Wild was right beside the Liger, her face half hidden by a doll just like before.

"Arietta", Ion started, "Please don't come in our way. We don't want to hurt you".

"Ion", Arietta looked up, "I won't do anything to you but these people are my enemies. They killed Mommy", she shouted tearfully.

"What?", Luke asked, "We didn't kill any woman".

"Arietta has been brought up by monsters ever since her parents died in the Hod war", Guy told them softly.

"I think she's talking about the Liger Queen", Tear said.

"I will never forgive you. I will avenge Mommy and chase you to the end of the world", Arietta told them tearfully and raised her doll. At that moment the ground began shaking and it parted just behind arietta. Purple fumes spewed out of the earth and Arietta fainted so did the liger.

"It's an earthquake", Jade shouted.

"This stuff kills you?", Luke asked terrified.

"If you inhale a large amount of it for a long time, yes", Tear told him.

"We have to escape. Quick", Jade told them when Tear began singing, "Fonic hymns at a time like this?", he asked.

"Wait. I recognize this as one of Yulia's hymns", Ion told him.

The shaking stopped and Tear explained that she had applied a vibration of same frequency as that of the core and that it was temporary.

Jade summoned his lance and made his way towards the God general, his face impassive, no pity or hesitance for the human life he was about to take. Anya didn't know why but it scared her.

"Wait", Anya went to the unconscious girl's side, "You can't do this", she looked up at him, her voice pleading from where she knelt.

"She'll only come after us if I let her live", he replied quietly.

"But how can you kill someone defenseless and unconscious?", Luke shouted out to the colonel.

The colonel stared at the God General making his lance disappear and turned his back to leave soon.

"Can we at least move her so that the miasma won't hit her when it comes back again?", Guy asked.

"I don't see a problem with that seeing as how I'm already letting her live", the colonel replied shrugging.

Anya picked up the sixteen year old girl almost as though she weren't an enemy and set her down gently on the ground. What no one noticed was that the cuts on Arietta's arms were healing as Anya put her down, that is no one except Jade who merely watched the scene without a word. Tear watched with widening eyes for a second and narrowed her gaze but followed the rest of them.

They hurried towards the Malkuth side of Kaitzur. As soon as they entered they realized that they wouldn't be able to pass without passports. A short girl with two large dark ponies was heatedly arguing with the guards on the other side.

"I told you I can't find the passport. You'll pay for that. Just wait", they heard her mutter under her breath as she turned towards the group.

"Colonel", she exclaimed as soon as she saw them, "Oh Luke", she giggled and ran to the red head, "I was so worried about you" she told him hugging.

"A little more late and we would've actually started worrying about you", Jade informed Anise.

"How about worrying from the beginning?", she asked the colonel.

"Yes. After all we wouldn't have been able to do anything without that letter", he replied back.

"Honestly colonel, you can be so mean", Anise told him.

"Anyway what do we do about the passports?", Luke asked them.

"You won't need any once you're dead", a voice from somewhere up shouted and the same red haired intruder on the Tartarus struck Luke who parried slightly and fell. The newcomer was about to run his sword through Luke when a brown haired man parried gracefully.

"Stand down Asch", he ordered in a tone not to be disobeyed.

"Get out of my way", the red head shouted.

"Who gave you orders to do this?", the brunette asked the red head who ignored him and left right away.

"Van!", Tear exclaimed bringing out one of her knives. _Uh-oh,this looks bad,_ Anya thought.

"Put your weapon away Tear. You misunderstand my intentions. Come to the inn when you're ready to talk to me", Van told her calmly, "And Luke, that parry was pathetic".

After an hour of discussing matters and resting, the group made their way to the Kaitzur port with passports this time. Anise chatted on endlessly about marrying into money, a topic to which no one really took a liking except Anya. The two got on like fire on house almost about everything they talked about. Once Anya had seen Anise battling, she had to admit that for a young girl, she was good. But what surprised her was the doll, Tokunaga which enlarged and shortened on Anise's command.

"So Anya", Anise asked her, "What do you do in Midgard?".

"I don't get you Anise", the older girl looked confused.

"You do some kind of work right? What do you do?", Anise asked her keenly.

Anya fiddled around with her hair. What was she supposed to tell her? The truth? No, not now. But something close, yes.

"I teach", she lied, "In a school", and she knew Anise had expected something different, something much cooler.

"Oh", just as expected, Anise had a disappointed look, "Are you old enough for that?", she suddenly asked her.

It took her by surprise, "Well, as old as a twenty three year old could get", she told her sure that no one was bothering with their conversation.

"What?" Guy turned back to her. Apparently the others had been listening.

"No way", Luke said "You don't look that old".

"Luke." Jade called in an admonishing voice, "There's no way a child like er is old. Thta's almost an insult to my long life."

Anya rolled her eyes, "Actually, it's a trait in our family I guess. It's been there for quite a few generations now. Would you believe it, even my Grandpa looks like he could be in his forties and he still manages to wield a sword like mine", she told them shaking her head.

"Would your grandfather happen to be a retired soldier maybe?" Jade suddenly asked.

"N-no. Nothing to do with military at all", she told him in a slightly high pitched voice confirming his suspicions of her lying but he left it there.

How much more could a person possibly hide and just what exactly about her identity was she refusing to share? Jade was only beginning to find out. There was more to this girl than met the eye.


	4. Surprise encounter: Sync and Dist

Chapter 4

Upon entering Kaitzur port, the group was greeted with commotion and ligers.

"It must be Gloomietta", Anise said out loud.

"Gloomietta?", Guy asked her.

"Arietta the wild", Anise ran up to him and started hitting him causing him to sake violently.

As the others hurried forward Jade turned to Guy, "As much as you're enjoying this Guy, we really must move on", with that and a smirk he joined the rest of the group.

"Get her off me", they heard Guy weakly plead and Anise let go grinning evilly.

As they approached, a guard came running and informed that the ship that had been waiting for them was destroyed and their engineer had been kidnapped.

And sure enough they saw the pink-haired God-general standing near the departure point. In the background, a ship was burning in the sea.

"I knew it was you Gloomietta", Anise piped up as soon as they reached Arietta.

"I am not gloomy", the other girl replied back.

"Arietta", another voice roared out from nearby and they turned to see a furious Van making his way towards them, "Who gave you the right to do this?".

"I-it was Asch, he asked me to do this", she told him tearfully and was suddenly hoisted up into the air by her Hraevelsger, "I'm sorry but I have to do this", she told them, "If you want to save the engineer, we'll be waiting in Choral castle. Ion and Luke must come there" with that the bird took off along with Arietta.

"With the ship out of order, there's no way to returning to Baticul", Van informed them, "Why don't you all return to Kaitzur for the moment. There is nothing but simple rest facilities here".

"But what about that engineer?", Luke asked him.

"We don't have time to worry about that", Van told him quietly and interrupted Luke as he was about to argue, "This will only waste your time and a war could be on its way". To this Luke and the others agreed and made their way out.

Two mechanics came running up to them requesting the group to save their engineer from the clutches of the God-Generals. Luke started to refuse but Ion pleaded and everyone except Luke agreed to visit Choral Castle.

"Fine. You all can go, but I'm staying because Master Van asked me to stay", Luke responded in a snooty manner.

"But Arietta said for you to come as well", Ion reminded him.

Guy was explaining that Choral Castle had been Duke Fabre's vacation home long back.

"This was the place where they found you after your kidnapping", Guy told Luke, "It might actually do you some good incase you remember something of your past". Not that Guy particularly wanted Luke to remember their relationship as it had been seven years ago.

Luke grudgingly agreed and they set off for Choral Castle. It didn't take more than twenty minutes and as soon as they entered the archway, Anise started planning on how to renovate the area for once Luke and she were married.

"This place looks like it's about to come down any moment", Anya observed.

"No one's been here for years really", Guy told her.

"But it seems that there's been recent activity in here", Jade said.

Luke sprinted forward into a darkened hallway to explore when Guy told him not to stray off too far from the group.

"I know, I know" Luke replied turning back to them not noticing the stone statue that moved at him from behind.

After the battle was over Anya rounded on Luke, "Hey Red! Could you try being a little more careful-"

"Alright got it. And stop calling me that", he added.

They investigated a door in the front room with a purple orb glistening on it.

"Let's just check out for the engineer alright?", Ion asked them.

The castle was gigantic, not to mention that they couldn't take shortcuts for all the broken paths. Finally they reached a large machine which looked inoperable. No one had seemed to understand it properly but for a moment Jade had actually looked worried. They abandoned the machine and kept going forward with a very concerned looking Colonel among them.

They spotted a liger up ahead and Luke followed it up ahead to the ceiling. Ion ran after him pleading Luke not to hurt Arietta and Anise followed as was her duty.

"Wait. It could be a trap", Tear warned but they were already gone.

"My my, impetuous little things aren't they?", Jade mused out.

"They really could stand to use their heads a little", Guy shook his head and the four followed, Anya picking up the left alone cheagle.

As soon as they reached they were met with a Hraevelsger which was circling around with Luke and Anise in its claws. Arietta held up a hand and the bird dropped Anise who landed on her bump.

"Ouch! Not funny Arietta, that hurt", Anise shouted indignanty.

"You hurt me first, you took Ion away from me", Arietta shot back.

Just as Ion was about to explain, the bird dropped Luke at the edge of the building but he was caught by another person on a chair who was off to the interior immediately and Arietta followed.

Jade took the lead and they returned the way they had come. For a change, the usually patient Colonel looked distracted and kept increasing his pace every now and then.

As soon as they reached the strange machine from earlier, Jade began working on the computer downstairs and Guy charged towards the green haired God-General, Sync who was equally fast and dodged Guy's strike but resulting in letting go of a disc he had been holding earlier.

"Hand that over. Now", Sync ordered Guy and charged. Guy's sword clashed with Sync's intricately designed mask and it dropped at his feet but the God-General hid his face behind his palm. Guy gasped and Sync snatched up his mask and was off like the wind.

"Just because this is unofficial, we can't kill you here", he told them and exited through a large window.

Luke, who was groggily waking up from his perch on the machine asked what happened and Jade informed them that the God-Generals had erased the data of whatever they were conducting.

They returned to the door with the glowing orb and placed a blue and red one in two empty slots. Just as they were placing the yellow one in the third slot, it melted and flowed away like water. Looking up they saw the other two orbs reacting to form a purple orb and moving to the lower empty slot. The door melted away leaving a pathway. They met up with Arietta again but Luke used Mieu fire to stop the bird clawing at him again.

"You shot fire, at my friend?", Arietta raged, "Now you'll definitely pay for this" and prepared her doll for a battle.

"Stupid brat", Anya said out loud getting her sword ready to test her new formed artes on the monsters.

"Fang Blade rage", Luke shouted and Arietta was thrown off her feet.

Jade began casting 'Splash' at the charging liger when Arietta started casting her own arte at Jade. Anya shouted 'Grieving Starlight' and a number of flaming stars flew down on the pink-haired girl who shrieked and turned her attention on Anya instead. Tear assisted in healing her comrades keeping out of the battle to protect the Fon Master. Arietta and her monsters weren't easy to kill but they managed to finish the battle with Guy's 'Crescent Strike' followed by Tear's 'Nightmare'.

Just like before, Jade prepared to kill Arietta but Ion came in his way and offered to take Arietta to Daath for proper imprisoning procedures. Van arrived and agreed with the Fon master and accompanied the group back to the port.

Luke met up with Goldberg who was to inform King Ingobert VI about the peace emissaries accompanying him and headed for the inn.

"Boy,am i hungry?" Luke looked somewhat like a drowned cat sitting on a bed. Anise was still hyped up and immediately came to Luke with her flirty tones and food she had brought along. Guy shuddered and almost ran out of the bed. There was a knock on the door and Anya opened to find an apologetic Goldberg behind whom were two Kimlascan knights.

"Please join us for dinner." Goldberg told them and Luke lead the group as expected when it came to food.

"I wish you were just this way when it came to battles." Guy told him and the redead scowled and Guy ruffled his hair. Tear looked at them with a smile she didn't realize she had.

"Have they been frineds for long?" Anya asked and Anise shrugged.

"Who knows?"she said, "All i know is, when i marry Luke, Guy will be my servant." she whispered to them. Somehow without their notice, Jade had materialized behind them.

"Of course you will Anise, if Tear doen't get there first." he commented startling them. Tear had a little hint of blush.

"C-Colonel, please don't make a joke out of everything." she said in what one would presume an authorative voice. Anya laughed, Anise scowled slightly and Jade fixed his glasses with what Anya had come to call 'Jade's sadistic smile'.

"Oh but it is so entertaining." he said, "Perhaps i am getting old after all, to find such things interesting." Luke ahouted for them to hurry from front and they reached the dining hall.

**So sorry for the story going almost the same as the game but like i said, the actual change doesn't come until after chapter with a little fluff.**


	5. In the Katsbert: Dist attacks

Chapter 5

They boarded the ship the next day and thanked the people.

There was nothing much to do except watch the scenery outside. Although the ship lurched sickeningly, it didn't bother Anya much. '_After all I've-'_

"Anya!", Anise's shout reached her ears and the older girl turned to the fon master guardian, "I looked all over for Luke and do you know where of all the places I found him? With TEAR", she huffed.

"So you've come to complain to the only other person who'd listen to your ranting huh?", they hadn't heard Guy walking out on to the deck. He rested his elbow on the railing careful to stay more than a foot away from Anya.

"Ranting?", Anise shouted and grabbed Guy around the waist from behind.

"Aaahh!", Guy tried to wrestle his way out of the young girl's grasp without touching her.

"Ooh! Guy time", Anya grinned wickedly and ruffled his blond hair till his eyes looked ready to pop out in fear.

"Well well", came Jade's voice from behind and they turned to see him smiling, "It's good to see you all taking full advantage of infancy but we've arrived in Chesedonia", he added hurriedly as the girls opened their mouth to argue about 'infancy'.

Van parted ways with them promising to meet up with them in Baticul eaving a grumbling Luke.

Mieu bounced up and down in sheer excitement, "Master. It's a new city, it's full of sand".

"Aaah! SHUT UP ALREADY THING!", he kicked the blue cheagle and Tear sighed as he complained about wanting to go with his 'Master Van'.

Chesedonia was the 'heart of trade' as Guy put it, a sandy city packed with people and shops in every inch available.

The girls stopped at a certain clothes stall while the guys went off to ask for directions to Astor's manor. Anya selected a sleeveless ivory dress trimmed at the edges with black similar to Luke's but with feminine modifications and long black gloves. Impatiently she ran into the inn and changed. Guy complimented her new attire while Anise pretended to call her Luke by mistake.

Suddenly a red haired woman in a revealing red dress accompanied by two men crossed paths with the group. Giving the Colonel 'the eye' who remained impassive she moved onto Luke.

"Oh my, what a fine young man you are", she said in a seductive tone trailing her hand over his chest and moving closer. It was now hard to distinguish Luke from his hair whose eyes were glazing over.

"Oh no!", Anise looked worried, "Some old woman is after my Luke".She looked at Anise and then moved away slowly to leave the group when Tear blocked her path.

"Give back what you just stole", Tear demanded holding a knife to her throat and Luke checked his pockets.

"Hey! My wallet's gone", he looked up at the woman who looked displeased and thrust the wallet into Tear's hand

"You haven't heard the last of the Dark Wings", one of them, a thin man with a patch on his left eye wheezed out and the trio left.

"If I knew they were the Dark Wings, I would have sliced them up right here", Luke shouted.

"Well, you did a good job of protecting your wallet", Tear told him handing his wallet back.

"But Colonel, why did you just stand and watch her when she did that?", Anya asked.

"Oh, I merely thought it would be amusing", he shrugged and headed for Astor's mansion ignoring Luke's, "Four-eyed Bastard".

The head of Chesedonia, Astor had a taste for luxury. Posh carpet, furniture and the uncountable number of servants at his call suggested it all.

The short man entered with a 'Hee-hee' and greeted them heartily, a large turban resting on his head.

"I would have prepared for a grand reception if I knew you were coming, Fon Master", the red-nosed Astor told him.

"We're trying to keep a low profile actually", Ion told him and requested for the Fon disc they obtained from Sync to be analyzed.

Within minutes, the group had the data and the disc and made their way to the port after a very rich meal indeed.

Out of nowhere, the God-General Sync dashed towards Guy and placed a mark on Guy's arm causing him to lose balance and his hold on the disc which Sync retrieved.

"Hand those over", he ordered Guy who had gathered up the data quickly.

"There's no need to make a scene here. To the ferry", Jade told them and they hurried away. Sync pursued the group.

Luke shouted out for the ferry to disembark and managed to get hold of the door at the last moment.

With nothing much to do onboard, Anya asked Guy for the data.

"I don't know if anyone except Jade can actually make sense of that", he told her but handed her the data anyway.

Selecting an empty cabin, she opened her gloves and put on her reading glasses and began going through them. She was almost done with the first one when the door opened and none other than Colonel Jade came in.

"Guy informed me about you having the data", he walked over to her and rifled through the pages of the first book, "Why don't you take a break from this?', he asked her suddenly breaking the silence.

"I'm not that much lover of the sea", she told him taking off her glasses, "And besides it's been long since I actually had the chance to read something. Not to be envious here but Guy seems to think you're the only one who could actually understand anything of these".

"By the looks of it you didn't look too vague about these", he told her.

She smiled showing off a dimple, "There are bits of it I don't understand. But its time to go rub it in Guy's face", with that she stood up and realized too late that the Colonel was standing too close. Thankfully he had his back to her but it didn't diminish the effect of his cologne.

_Wow!_ She thought, her head going slightly dizzy with the masculine perfume. "You're so perfect", she muttered under her breath before she could stop herself as her hands were inches away from his body, wanting nothing more than to run her hnads along the sides of his torso...

He turned to her slowly, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his lips that he didn't let show and she wished they had been separated by a few more inches. _For Lorelei's sake stop thinking things,_ she willed herself, _those lips...argh no!_

She looked up to meet his piercing gaze and Yulia knew what devil took over her. The next second she had her arms around his neck and was kissing him heatedly. It didn't matter that things might not be so well between them later; it had been too long since she felt those light-headed emotions, too long she had been alone. Was she merely using him to deprive that feeling of loneliness? It seemed wrong and she was about to pull away when Jade placed his hands on her waist and pushed her into the wall behind and all thoughts were forgotten. It was wrong somehow and she liked it. It was reckless,completely impulsive...

He was kissing her back with the same passion. He didn't know why or how his control had snapped but he had deprived himself of any womanly touch for over almost a year from now. He felt her hand running through his long hair. He brushed his gloved hand over her cheek and down her neck to her shoulders.

She ran a thumb along his strong jaw line and trailed her hand down his neck feeling his bare skin, his cologne just adding to the euphoric state she was in. Who was this anyway? A particular someone with glasses, brown hair and blue eye—no, red eyes, this was Jade…no wait, she couldn't think clearly.

"Colonel. Everyone-", Anise's jaw dropped as she took in the scene in front of her, her hand still on the door knob.

Jade slowly pulled away taking his own sweet time to remove his gloved hands from her waist with a smirk at her flushed face, "Yes Anise?", he turned to her as though nothing had happened.

"Everyone's free at the moment. They wanted to know if you've read through the data", Anise informed him grinning wickedly at Anya, "Let's go Tokunaga, let's tell Ion first", she took off immediately.

Anya's heart fluttered, Oh_ no!_ And she dashed away after the little devil and stopped at the doorway not looking back at the Colonel, "I'm sorry", and she was off again with a slam of the door.

He wondered why she had apologized and then turned back to the data with a grin. It had been too long since he had had something like that. He had to admit, the woman was great at this although this wasn't anything all that special. It would be best forgotten.

* * *

What had she been thinking??It was this reckless behavior of hers that had gotten her into trouble years ago. Kissing a man on your first voyage?? Maybe he had been irresistible but still...

Fifteen minutes later Anya caught up to Anise running to the deck towards Ion and took hold of her immediately, "Please Anise. Don't say anything to anyone", she pleaded and at that moment Tear informed them that Jade wanted to see all of them. Anise gave her a cheeky smile and made her way towards the cabin when Anya pulled the little girl and whispered something in her ear and she agreed not to speak a word about it.

"There's nothing concerning what they did to you back at Choral castle. Although this talks about isofon research", he told Luke. "3.14159265358979323846, this is Lorelei's fonon frequency", Jade said astonished.

"Aren't isofons the beings with same fonon frequency?", Anya asked and Jade nodded,

Tear continued,"But that's not particularly possible is it? I mean they're like fingerprints right?"

Anya replied to her, "It is possible when done artificially-" and then stopped suddenly when Jade looked up with a raised eagerness to answer questions would really end up putting her in trouble.

"There we go with the fonons again", Luke muttered in a bad mood, "What the heck is a fonon?"

Tear was about to answer him when the ferry lurched suddenly and a knight came in to warn them that the ferry had been invaded by Oracle Knights. They rushed to the deck where they found the captain arguing with a robot.

"This fonstone's mine now. We need it for an experiment", the robot told him and glided away. The group followed it to a certain distance when it turned to them and said that pursuing him was pointless and jumped into the sea. They watched it in confusion.

"Err. Is it okay for it to get wet?", Anya asked hesitantly.

"Aaah", they heard a robotic scream and Anya's question was answered.

"There's no point now, let's just deal with the oracle knights", Tear told them and as they advanced Luke went ballistic.

"Where the heck is their boss?", he asked, "Can we just get over with this already?".

"Ahahahhhaaaaa. Haaaaaahhhahahaa", a laugh rang out in the air and the group saw a white haired man on a chair, "You ignorant savages, you shall hear my beautiful name. I am the most elegant, graceful member of the Six God-Generals, the one and only 'Dist The Rose'", he finished in a drawling voice.

"You mean 'Dist the Runny'?", Jade asked casually.

"Grrrr. It's Dist the ROSE,R-O-S-E", the God general protested.

"You mean Dist the Reaper?", Anise ejected.

"You know this guy?", Luke asked Anise incredulously.

"I'm in the Oracle Knights too", she told him, her eyes not leaving Dist, "But what about you Colonel?".

Dist spoke up before Jade could, "I once counted that duplicitous snake Jade as one of my friends".

"Uh-huh. Careful now, you know how your nose runs when you get mad?", Jade still talked to him as though addressing a child.

"He's kind of cute you know. Kind of", Anya added when Anise looked ready to puke. _And true enough_ she thought_ just how many men out there could actually look good with hair of that shade?_

"No it doesn't you-", Dist protested and suddenly stopped with a smile now turning to Anya who stood behind Anise, "So, even your pretty little friend here would prefer me over you any day now hmm?", Anya couldn't agree to that last point. But before anyone knew what was happening, Dist had a tiny red glowing orb in his hand. Grinning he threw it at Anya who was as surprised as the others at the sudden turn of the events. The orb contacted with her bare arm and the area burned for a second before the orb melted and seeped into her skin looking normal again.

In that distraction, Dist snatched away the data from Jade's hand looking victorious, "How careless of you Jade".

"That's alright", he replied shrugging, "I've already memorized the contents", and this wiped away Dist's smile.

"Grrrr. I'm being mocked by savages. Just wait till you've felt my super hyper ultra gorgeous artes". With that he entered a giant multi-legged robot and once more the group started battling.

Jade kept casting 'Splash' and 'blessed drops' which proved more useful than the rest of the others' artes.

"It's a robot", Anya shouted realizing why Jade's fonic artes were working so well, "Use water elemental artes" at which Guy nodded and cast 'Crescent strike'. Anya helped in forming the fonon field in which Guy stepped and cast 'Frigid Moon'.

Anya stepped into a field Jade created and shouted 'Aqua Dazzle' causing starry water drops to attack from all sides. Soon the 'Kaiser Dist R' was defeated and Dist was thrown into the water.

"It will take more than that to kill him", Jade said casually, "He has the tenacity of a cockroach".

"And we have finally reached Luke's home", Anya happily observed the towering buildings of the Capital.

**Whew,i'm still updating teh chappies whenever possible!!!**


	6. Retrieve Ion, Asch's countenance

Chapter 6

The group reached the port and were greeted by Brigadier General Cecille who accompanied them to the King's or otherwise Luke's uncle's castle.

The city of Baticul was built on a crater formed by a fallen fonstone as Guy explained and both Anya and Anise 'oohed' over the hyper tall buildings. As soon as the peace letter was handed over to the King, he informed Luke that Susanne, Luke's mother, the King's sister had fallen ill therefore he had sent his daughter Natalia to her side.

The group made their way to the Fabre residence where everyone greeted Luke with relief, sure that he had been kidnapped again. The duke along with general Cecille made his way to meet up with Van at the port. As soon as they reached the drawing room they encountered none other than Princess Natalia of Kimlasca whose face clearly had rage written over at the moment.

"Guy", Natalia fumed, "I told you to inform me when you go looking for Luke", and took a step closer to Guy who hid behind one of the pillars. Natalia tch-ed and turned to Luke, "Who's this with you?", she indicated to Tear, "Don't tell me you've been taking advantage of one of your maids".

Luke introduced them to her and he went to meet Susanne with Tear who wanted to apologize.

After the rest overnight, the group met up with Luke to exchange good-byes. What they didn't know was that they had a very long journey ahead together.

Luke, Tear, Jade, Anya and Natalia had an audience with the King discussing the letter.

"Malkuth wants us to aid the citizens of Akzeriuth to safety", he told them, "Akzeriuth has been contaminated with miasma and with the road from Malkuth out we are the only ones who can help save them. Luke, I've made you the ambassador", the King added to Luke who went wide-eyed.

"Why m-me? I've had enough of travelling", Luke told him.

"Tear", the king called out startling her, "Would you please read out the Yulia Jue's Sixth Fonstone?".

Tear nodded and began, "ND2000, In Kimlasca shall be born the scion of Lorelei's power. He will be of royal blood with hair of red. He shall be called 'light of the sacred flame' and he will lead Kimlasca Lanvaldear to new prosperity.

ND2018, the young Scion of Lorelei's power shall bring his people to the miner's city. There… and the rest is missing", she finished.

"Well Luke, there it is", The King told him. Luke agreed on the condition that they don't hold Van responsible for his kidnapping anymore. The King discussed as to who should accompany Luke to Akzeriuth and the group turned out to be Luke, Tear, Jade and Guy as Luke's guard. Princess Natalia pleaded but the King wouldn't hear of it and Anya decided not to even ask about permission for going.

When everyone was out of the room, Natalia followed them fuming. Anya didn't know what took over her but she followed the princess towards Van's prison cell where Luke had just vanished.

"Your highness", she said finally catching up to her, "What exac-", but Natalia held up a hand to silence her and the duo listened to the conversation between Luke and the commandant Van with anticipation. The moment the talk was over, the two girls quietly ran out, Natalia leading Anya to her room to discuss matters.

"Your highness", Anya panted when the princess interrupted, "Please call me Natalia. And I know you wanted to go to Akzeriuth just as much as I want to. So I have a plan", she told Anya now smiling triumphantly.

"Y-yes you-Natalia?", Anya asked hesitantly yet curiously.

"We'll blackmail him. We say that we can confirm Father's suspicion of Van being the kidnapper because we overheard him saying so to Luke".

Anya had to admit that it was good, no doubt Luke would give in but, "Natalia, I'm not really someone important, I don't think the King would listen to me over Luke any day. And I'm pretty sure Luke's going to point out that", she added when Natalia looked ready to argue that the King needn't know, "But let's give it a try", she added making the eighteen year old princess smile again.

Guy wanted Luke to check out the dojo when Anise came and reported that Ion wasn't in his room and that people informed her that they had seen the Fon master leaving the city with circus performers, who Jade perceived to be none other than the Dark Wings. The group would have to select an alternative route through the abandoned factory because Sync was waiting outside the city.

"This place sure is dark", Luke observed.

"I can breathe fire to give you light", Mieu piped up wanting to be useful to which Luke disagreed.

"Luke's being nice to Mieu?", a surprised voice rang out from the darkness and they saw two figures approaching.

"Natalia", Luke exclaimed, "What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be in the castle".

"I want to save the people of Akzeriuth", she told him.

"You'll just be a burden on all of us", Guy told her politely.

"No I won't", the princess shot back, "I know the Lanvaldear style archery and I'm also a healer", she added and everyone except Luke seemed to agree.

"Luke, if you don't take us along then we'll tell the King about you-know-what", Anya talked for the first time.

Luke dragged the two of them and decided that Natalia had to come and sure enough he pointed out exactly what Anya had told Natalia earlier.

As soon as Anya opened her mouth Jade echoed his words from earlier, "A smaller group will attract less attention".

She didn't know what was wrong with her but there it was, the mood swings again. Her temper had been running short for quite a few hours now and couldn't hold back anymore.

"FINE", Anya shouted startling everyone, "I know when I'm not wanted somewhere", with that she strode forward careful to bump hard enough to Luke to make him lose his balance.

"Hey! What was that for and where do you think you're going?", he asked when Anya began climbing one of the ladders.

"Akzeriuth of course", she replied, "Unlike a particular wretched dreck, I can make it on my own", she scoffed and hurried away without a backward glance.

"'wretched dreck'?She must be upset", Guy observed with slight trepidation.

The others still hadn't caught up to her which wasn't much of a surprise as they probably had trouble with the lack of light. Anya was glad she had gotten her torch containing clusters of fifth fonon, a convenient source of light not yet invented in the rest of the continents. She studied the mechanism for the elevator and proceeded.

* * *

"Where do you think Anya is?", Natalia asked worried. After all she had dragged the woman into this.

"At any rate I imagine she should be alive", the Colonel told her earning a "Colonel, don't joke about things like that", from Tear.

The group took an elevator that had already been operated and Anise broke out of the group first only to get the attention of the rest of them with a dramatic gasp.

"Anya?", she called out to a dark silhouette that was leaning against a wall hunched as though in pain. At the voice Anya straightened up and stalked off to the next room. The idea of rejection still stung deep.

The little girl sighed in relief, "Well she's safe but why do you think she stopped?".

* * *

Soon the group was able to reach the emergency exit but like always, a giant slimy monster with tentacles ambushed them. The group began battling it knowing how tough it would be but surprisingly the monster seemed weakened from before.

"Look!", Tear exclaimed drawing their eyes to a bronze object sticking out of the monster's body which now lay still. It shuddered and then vanished leaving behind a puddle of slime and a large bronze sword.

"Isn't that Anya's?", Guy asked with growing trepidation.

"Oh no, no", Natalia was muttering, "Do you think she was swallowed by that thing?".

"Hmmm, that's quite a thought. It could be and because the sword is metal it remained", Jade mused out earning death glares from everyone which he ignored as usual.

Suddenly there was a flurry of movement from upwards and they saw a white blur land over Jade who swayed at the impact very slightly. Anya held onto Jade's arm to steady herself from the nine foot fall. "Sorry about that. You were an easier support", she apologized letting go of him and picked up her sword gingerly.

"Well, shall we proceed?", Jade asked the group, "there's no point in letting Anya travel alone now".

"Are you alright?", Tear asked her to which Anya nodded and they went through the emergency exit.

Heavy rain poured down on them as they took in the scene outside- God-General Asch, throwing his crimson curtain of hair behind to face them holding the fon master Ion captive in front of the Tartarus. Luke immediately dashed towards Asch and the two fend off each other using 'Fang Blade'. Suddenly, shock clouded Luke's features and Asch threw him off. Everyone except Jade wore similar expressions to Luke's.

The God-General 'Asch the Bloody' and Luke Fon Fabre were mirror images of each other.

The God-Generals left with Ion leaving a distressed Luke who, on Anise's pleading agreed to pursue Ion.

* * *

As soon as they reached an oasis, Luke encountered a headache through which Asch informed them their current location. The group made their way to the Zao ruins. They were met by a splendid sight- a mass of gaseous looking golden substances swirling around constantly.

"Second Fonons", Mieu chirped bouncing around and approaching the fonons.

"What are fonons?", Luke asked clearly hating the cheagle knowing more than him.

"Fonons are basic particles of what everything is made up of. Actually you're made of fonons and elements", Tear explained.

"I am absorbing the fonons into the sorcerer's ring", Mieu told them, "Now I can become stronger".

"Stronger?", Luke asked and when Mieu showed no signs of anything he brushed it off, "What a waste of time".

Suddenly Mieu bounced towards a large rock and shouted 'Attack' and bashed it with his head into pieces startling everyone. After following confusing pathways the group made it to Ion but of course along with our dear, darn God-generals, Sync, Largo and Asch.

"We have work for the fon master", Asch told them, "Leave now".

"No way", Luke shouted back, "We'll take Ion back by force if we have to", with that he unsheathed his sword and the group started battling Sync the Tempest and Largo the Black Lion. Sync was proving quite a challenge even against both Anya and Guy who were not having much problems with Largo with his huge stature.

But in the end as always, our dear friends won against those damned God-generals (_drum rolls)_ and once again the very feminine and pretty fon master Ion was saved, thanks to….the powerpuff girls- OH NO WAIT, our tales of the abyss characters and Anya.

**Man I was so tired of writing formally so I thought of adding the last comments. **


	7. Child Luke's wrong doings

Chapter seven

They made their way to Akzeriuth through Deo Pass, a place made up of high mountains where the roads were in surprisingly good condition.

"Man, we'll never catch up to Master Van", Luke complained, "We shouldn't have wasted time in the desert".

"WASTED TIME?", Anise rounded on Luke.

"Red", Anya started getting edgy again, "We were saving Ion if you haven't noticed".

"Yeah well, we don't need Ion anymore" Luke told them, "The letter reached uncle right? Things would've been just fine without Ion anyway".

"I'm sorry for slowing you all down", Ion said looking downcast, "Luke's ri-"

"Don't even say he's right, Ion", Anya snapped, "Let's go ahead", she said to the fon master taking his hand.

"I wonder what's causing the edginess", Tear mumbled and followed after a glare in Luke's direction.

"_Luke, you really need to be more careful with your words",_ Guy thought and accompanied the princess instead.

So obviously after many whininess from a certain red head, the group trudged on the steep slopes for three hours when suddenly our fragile Fon master Ion dropped to his knees from exhaustion.

"Ion!", Anise was the first to be at his side.

"Fon master, please you need some rest", Tear spoke to him kindly.

"What?", Luke shouted, "We can't afford to lose any more time. The people of Akzeriuth-".

"The people of Akzeriuth will be no better if our healers collapse", Anya reasoned, "Besides Red, we know you're dying to be off with that Master Van of yours. Oh sorry Tear", she added apologetically.

"I don't have any objection to a little rest", the Colonel interjected, "You know how my old bones wear off", with that he stalked off to explore the place.

"And I thought he was tired", Guy shook his head.

The group remained silent for a change, mainly because Luke kept throwing furtive glances upwards, tch-ing every now and then. Tear remained quiet as usual except to stroke Mieu behind the ears sometimes.

"Tear", Jade suddenly materialized from behind, "I've been wanting to ask you something".

"Yes?", Tear asked slightly confused.

"I was wondering about your fonic hymns", he told her, "I've read about those, aren't they passed down from one generation to the next of Yulia's?", he asked.

"Well yes", Tear replied, "I've been told that I'm a descendant of Yulia but I'm not so sure".

"So that makes Master Van a descendant of Yulia too right?", Luke asked enthusiastically at which Tear nodded.

"Master Van's so cool", Luke cried out in glee receiving groan from almost everyone.Honestly, did the boy ever think of anything but Van?

"Well, I think it's about time we go", Jade told them after an hour of rest to which everyone agreed, well of course no one more than Luke.

As the group made their way up the slopes again, Luke attacked a tree with Mieu and they were ambushed by a giant tree like monster which lashed at them furiously. They dodged and fought quite well but once it got vicious, anything within its vicinity was in danger of getting ripped. Natalia assisted in healing her friends constantly keeping Ion safe. Without warning, the monster lashed out at Luke who had formerly been attacking from behind. Anya pushed him away taking the hit which got the side of her abdomen and started bleeding profusely.

'_Oh no! My hot abs',_ Anya thoughtand dismissed the idea quickly. Seriously, was Dist the Rose rubbing off on her?

As soon as the battle finished, Tear hurried to Anya's side, "It's alright. It's not that bad but it might be a problem if we don't heal soon enough". With that she raised the dress a few inches exposing the wounded area and began muttering healing spells. The area went numb and then a warm feeling passed over as new skin began forming within a few seconds and was soon as good as before. Anya thanked Tear checking out her stomach that hadn't been easy to achieve.

"That was fast", Natalia observed, "I've never seen a cut so large heal this fast before".

Jade turned around to the two boys getting exactly the kind of reaction he expected, "You both are drooling", he told them loud enough for everyone to hear. Luke denied it completely it while Guy simply rubbed the back of his head in discomfort. Anya glared at Luke and snapped at 'the ambassador' to lead the way.

"Well I don't know what's gotten into you lately but you're getting on my nerves", Luke shouted at her and made his way up.

"Is that so Red?", she asked him, "I don't think I was the one who bashed a tree for no reason".

"why you-", he started but Anise interrupted him.

"And on top of all that you don't even thank her", she shouted at him, "Just how-"

"Forget it Anise", Anya muttered.

"Yeah do that", Luke told her, "I'm the ambassador. What I say goes on. We've already wasted enough time in the desert and for Ion's rest", he ranted arrogantly.

"Wasted time?", Anya asked him incredulously, "Stop acting like you're something special. For all you know, you might be a stupid rep-", she caught Ion's eye and changed tack at light speed, "tile", she finished and hurried away from Luke.

"Reptile?", Guy stared at her back, "She has some choice of words huh?".

What had she been about to do? Anya was mulling over every mistake she had made in this journey. Giving out her surname, giving out a hint of relation to the Military, her fast healing properties….

"You know more than you tell don't you?", Jade's sudden comment from her right startled her.

"I don't know what you're talking about", she scowled.

"How are you familiar with fomicry?", he asked her solemnly, "I didn't know the people of Midgard were aware of our technology".

She panicked and stuttered out, "I h-have no idea what you're t-talking about".

He merely shrugged. If that was how she would keep it but Jade Curtiss wasn't one from whom secrets could be buried. They were clearly at a disadvantage from the lack of information about Anya. She could be anyone, a spy perhaps?

"You are an absolutely terrible liar", he told her. _But a good one at keeping back whatever it is you're hiding._ She was proving to be tougher to understand than the rest of them, of course counting out Guy and Tear; but how she managed to do it was troubling him. Well, he had more pressing matters at hand now….

The sun would be setting within an hour or two and the group anxiously made their way towards Akzeriuth, all of them too concerned about the fate of the citizens to argue about anything. Even Luke was getting serious after Tear told him that the citizens wouldn't merely be weakened but dead if they didn't hurry. The Necromancer didn't particularly understand what about those words could make Luke feel so considerate…but then he had never understood the importance of human lives. It was always save or finish them for good and he did as he was told, as he had sworn on joining the military; there was no emotion when it came to his task as a patriot.

Suddenly there was the sound of gun firing as a bullet missed Luke's feet by centimeters. Looking up at the direction of the shot they saw a blond woman sporting black outfit with white trimmings, God-General Legretta the Quick.

"Major Legretta!", Tear exclaimed disbelievingly.

"Tear", she asked in a cold voice void of any emotion, "Why do you continue to travel with those people? Join me Tear. And get away from that reject", she snapped the last words at her.

"You're Van's most faithful member", Tear explained, "I still don't trust his intentions and until then I won't join you".

"We're only doing what one must do to remove the follies of the world", Legretta told her, "The people are so bound to the Score that they consult it for everything. Everything", she added the last word with anger but once again the impassiveness returned, "Someone has to change the world", she told them softly. "I'm sorry. I can't let you get in our way". With that she got her guns ready once again and jumped down from the cliff.

She was proving tougher than Sync and Largo together. Honestly, the woman really did live up to her name. She cast her artes much quicker than Jade who had become an easy target for the God-General and he gave up trying to use artes, instead switching to mili attacks. Within almost an hour, the God-general was defeated and she swung back to the cliff again.

"It doesn't matter", she told them holding a stitch at her side, "We'll stop you some other time and stop tagging along with that reject", she told Tear pointing at Luke.

"You've resurrected a forbidden technology", Jade told her, "If we were not so busy at the moment, I would've arrested you myself".

"What are you all talking about?", Luke asked, "It's about me isn't it?".

"Luke, some things are better left unknown", Anya told him gently.

"It doesn't matter who's right anymore, Necromancer", Legretta told him with a smile. She threw a crumpled up paper which dropped at Anya's feet and then vanished with a cloud of smoke as soon as Jade had his lance out.

"Over my dead body", the Colonel growled at the place where Legretta had vanished.

"C-colonel", Anise stammered wide eyed, "You're actually angry?". No one blamed the girl, the thought of Jade being angered was creepy. But what was more concerning was that whatever the matter was, it wasn't anything trifle.

"Ah, sorry about that", Jade calmly turned back to them pushing his glasses up, "Just lost a little control there. Let's get going".

"Anya. What's that?", Ion asked her noticing the letter which now Anya was reading, her face pale at the contents.

Anya looked up with slightly unfocused eyes, "I-it's nothing", she told them stashing the letter away in her pocket and making her way towards Akzeriuth, not really paying attention to what she was doing. It wasn't possible was it? How did they of all the people know? Did she have a choice anymore?

As soon as they entered the mining city of Akzeriuth, they could see the place plagued with purple fumes, miasma. Not a person in sight looked healthy anymore. The people were sitting or simply trying to breathe properly. It was like watching a hospital full of asthmatic patients, only the hospital was a treasure chest of important minerals.

"The conditions are worse than I imagined", Jade said solemnly. Natalia hurried to a miner's side and began healing him. A big man, who looked in charge of the place made sure that they were aiding from the Kimlascan side.

"A man named Dorian Grants told us you would be arriving. He went to help out some of the miners", the an informed them.

Guy immediately began carrying the miners outside into field. Luke was probably the only one who looked sullen. Tear, Natalia and Anya went off to heal the people; helping in their own way although it wasn't enough but for the time being at least it gave them some hope of life.

Anya bumped to a small brunette boy, not more than five or six and was very much surprised at the presence of a child.

"Miss", the boy called out to her with large blue eyes, "Do you think my daddy's alright? You're a healer aren't you? You'll save him won't you?", the tirade of questions were asked with such hope that she couldn't bring herself to reply hesitantly.

"What's your name?", Anya asked, "And tell me where's your Daddy so I can see if he's alright". The boy reminded her of Tristan, hardly five years old or so and he was so cute.

"John", he replied, "they said something about mine shaft 14. I only came here to play with Daddy. I want to go back home. Mommy…", he said sadly.

"Anya", Guy panted with the others behind, "Mine shaft 14 is where the miasma is thickest. We have to hurry. Now". Anya nodded and followed the others after a reassuring smile to John. She had to save this boy's father, this boy who looked like her little boy.

Some of the monsters took advantage and attacked them although the group tried their best to avoid them. Suddenly an oracle knight greeted them.

"Tear Grants", the soldier started, "They've found a fonstone and they want it verified as the Seventh Fonstone".

"So that's what you were looking for?", Ion asked, "Tear, I think you should go and confirm its authenticity. We'll be fine on our own", she told her in a tone not to be ignored.

"Oh well, that's one healer less now", Jade observed after Tear left, "Be careful you two", he added to Natalia and Anya who nodded.

As soon as they entered, Guy, Anise and the Healers made their way to the fallen people. Jade made his way forward with Luke and Ion. He didn't know why Luke was so impatient to meet up with Van. As soon as they left the four people in the rear room, there was a rumbling noise from upwards.

"I'll go see what this is all about", Jade told them and immediately took off upstairs another way leaving Ion, Luke and the blue cheagle.

The trio now went forward when they suddenly saw van who greeted them calmly despite all the commotion, "Please, fon Master. If you'd open this door for us".

"It's another one of those Sepiroths, although I don't know how this will serve our purpose", Ion said thoughtfully.

"Master Van knows what's right", Luke told Ion, "Just do as he says". Ion nodded and undid the Daathic seal which caused him to collapse.

"Ion, you okay?", Luke asked the green haired boy, helping him to his feet as Van made his way through the dark passage.

"Yes, I'm fine", he replied with his usual smile.

'_Stop dreck. Stop now. Listen to me-'_ the voice of Asch screamed in rage in Luke's head and he brushed it off with an arrogant remark, "I'm not letting you order me around".

Van led Luke down a spiral path. It looked translucent, as though any moment it would vanish but the millions of glyphs gave it a captivating look.

They entered another archway and into a room full of swirling golden glyphs in mid-air. In the middle stood wispy looking ring like objects that was neither gas nor liquid.

'_Are you trying to destroy Akzeriuth? Don't take another step before it's too late'_, Asch told him again to which Luke replied, "I'm only trying to destroy the miasma", and ran off after Master Van.

"Passage rings", Ion breathed out, enchanted by the place.

"Tear", Jade shouted, "What happened", he asked as soon as he saw the Melodist running towards the way he had just come from.

"The fonstone was a fake", she panted, "the God-Generals are here on Van's orders. Yes they invaded the area".

"What do you mean?", Jade asked urgently, "Why would they separate you from the rest of us?".

"Van's trying to protect me from whatever he's doing", Tear told him.

"Hey! Do something about that dreck you call Luke", Asch the Bloody told them suddenly appearing from behind, "he's going to get us all killed".

"Asch told me. There's no doubt about it", Tear told Jade who had suddenly gotten defensive at the sudden presence of a God-General, "Van's planning to…destroy Akzeriuth".

"Luke", Van commanded, "Now use your hyperresonance. Direct it towards the passage rings". Luke nodded and stepped forward. Ion tried to reach out to Luke, to stop but Van threw him unconscious forcefully which went unnoticed by Luke.

'_Calm down Luke. Yes, now good. Unleash this power. It will rid the miasma. You'll be a hero'._ Luke remembered Van's words from the ferry and concentrated on the golden light emerging from his hand, trying not to let it go out of control. He knew it was a destructive power but just how much, he had no idea.

Then as if in a dream, Luke heard his beloved, most trustworthy Master Van's words, "Foolish Replica Luke. Unleash your power".

"W-what?", Luke gaped at his hands. The light emerging from his hand was growing and he could feel the power going out of control, "NO!", he shouted as the ball of energy flew towards the rings, the exhaustion causing him to fall to his knees.

"You've finally proven useful", he hear Van's voice from up, not at all like his mentor but as cold as any voice could get.

"Van..?", Luke looked up disbelievingly and then the area began trembling; the walls were breaking away and falling, the fall was going to take him with the land he had just destroyed….this place would become nothing but rubble and sand.

"Damn", Asch was the first to enter, "He's done it", he told to himself and saw Luke kneeling in front of the passage ring._ How bloody stupid was the guy?_

Suddenly a bird picked him up in its claws and he realized it as one of Arietta's monsters. "Let me go. I'm going to die here too".

"Sorry Asch", he heard Van's voice and looked up to see him on another bird, "Ion's already wasted, I can't let you die too". With that the two birds made their way out before the collapsing area could devour them.

Tear came in followed by the others and they saw the two unconscious figures, those of Ion and Mieu. Jade immediately picked up the fragile fon master on his back when Guy noticed Luke's sprawled figure and imitated Jade. Anya picked up the cheagle and looked frantically around.

"This place is gonna fall apart too", Anise screamed in hysteria.

"Tear", Anya exclaimed, "Your fonic hymns". Tear nodded and motioned for all of them to step into the giant circle forming around her and the group fell along with the broken concrete without so much as a scratch.

"Master! Master", Mieu's voice could be heard as Luke flickered his eyes open and sat up immediately.

"What the?", he looked around at the broken down place floating on the sea of mud and sludge.

"No one else survived", Natalia said tearfully.

"Thanks to Tear's hymn or else we might as well have perished", Jade said gravely.

"Are you quite sure there's no survivor?", Anise asked looking around.

"Help!", a strangled cry startled them out of the silence.

"There's someone there", Tear said turning back to the place where they could see a small boy and a lifeless man floating on a raft.

"It hurts…".

"I'll save you", Natalia shouted weakly and made her way when Tear grabbed from behind, "You'll drown if you go there. Let's try healing spells from here".

"He's sinking", Guy shouted and was making his way slowly when he felt a figure dart past him and throw herself down at the edge.

"Anya. No", she heard shocked voices but reached out her hand to John. She felt herself almost slipping away but someone steadied her from behind.

"You can't do this, it's dangerous", she couldn't even register whose voice it was.

"Aaah.Mommy. Daddy….", the boy reached out his hand but was way too far and to their horror, the raft began sinking.

_No! No, her_ mind screamed. The boy looked just like her little boy. Worst of all, it was like Irvine all over again, the boy was slipping away, dying in front of her and there was nothing she could do. _It_ _can't happen, not now. Not again._ The boy's hand vanished away under the sludge and she felt someone pull her backwards, she didn't even resist. All she knew was that her tears were pouring down and she was holding onto the only person close now. She hated herself for the weakness, what had she learnt at the academy if she couldn't even handle the death of a child?

Jade stiffened slightly at the contact and then patted her head gently. What was causing this up surge of emotions in her? A particular memory perhaps? Or maybe she had known the child.

"I'm sorry. We should get going", Anya suddenly pulled away a few seconds later.

"the God-Generals left the Tartarus here and surprisingly it's still intact", Jade informed the slightly distracted companions of his who all were staring at the spot where John had vanished.

As soon as they boarded the land ship, the area around the mines was crumbling too. The land beneath them gave away and the Tartarus fell along with the buildings and everything else.

Everyone stood silently on the deck of the Tartarus waiting for Jade to come back from the inside where he was piloting. The door opened and the Colonel arrived.

"So this is the Qlipoth?", Ion asked looking around, "Never thought I would come here".

"Sorry but what is the Qlipoth?", Anise asked.

"The area we live in is called the Outer Lands", Anya provided, "It used to be down here in the Qlipoth before".

"But when the area got plagued by miasma, Yulia decided to see the future of the world and bring the world to prosperity", Tear continued, "So, she raised the lands using Sepiroth trees, that is saying, she raised the crust of the planet".

"You're sure knowledgeable about the Qlipoth", Jade told Tear, "I would certainly like to know more about it myself once we're safe".

"Only Fon masters and members above are aware of this information. So are the people born in the Qlipoth", Ion told them.

"So you're from the Qlipoth?", Anise asked Tear wide-eyed who nodded.

"There's a city to the west of here, Yulia City", she informed them.

"So Tear", Jade turned to her, "You said that the lands are supported by Sepiroth trees right? Then how did Akzeriuth collapse?".

"The passage rings are what steadies a Sepiroth", Ion explained, "the passage rings must've disintegrated when Luke used his power causing the Sepiroth to break down completely".

They all turned to Luke who took a step back at the sudden attention. "W-what? I didn't do anything. I was only trying to help rid Akzeriuth of the miasma". He shouted out in panic.

"What did you do exactly Luke?", Jade asked him emotionlessly.

"Master Van told me to use a hyperresonance at the passage rings and I-" he was cut off by Tear, "A hyperesonance? Do you know how destructive that force is?".

He nodded and was about to reply when Tear interrupted again, "If you knew that, then why? Why did you listen to my brother. He deceived you and you fell for it". She coldly said all this.

"You could've at least discussed it with us beforehand", Jade replied gravely.

"S-so are you saying it's all my fault?", Luke asked them looking around and receiving nothing but accusing glares from everyone but Ion.

"But I did not", he said it more to himself, "It was master van, yeah it wasn't me".

"If I stay here I'll just be irritated by some ridiculous ranting", Jade said and walked back to steer the Tartarus.

"I was powerless but-", Ion started but Anise pulled him away, "Don't bother talking to him Ion, he's not worth it". And the two went away inside followed by Natalia who threw Luke a revolted look.

"Guy", Luke turned to his best friend, "You don't think-"

"Luke", the blond replied deadpan, "Don't make me think even less of you". Even he chose to walk off inside.

"I was stupid to think you had some good in you", Tear told him and followed Guy leaving a distressed Luke alone.

"Why?", he asked the floor, "Why won't they listen to me?".

"Master", Mieu said softly, if one could call his voice that, "I know how you're feeling. It's happened to me too. My people died because I burned their home by mistake". The blue cheagle hopped beside Luke with droopy ears.

"Don't compare me to you", Luke said indignantly and then buried his head in his hands, his shoulders began heaving with what Anya concluded to be sobs.

She looked at the hunched figure, not with hatred or revulsion, just pity. It wasn't entirely his fault but the boy needed to understand the depth of his doings. Ignorance wasn't bliss was what he had to understand. She knew what he felt and felt a heart-wrenching pang for him as he sat there with no one but the biting cold as company. She approached him silently. It wouldn't do to tell him that it was okay, that next time he could try better because there was no next time. Thousands of lives have been lost for one second.

She kneeled down beside him and gently fingered his red hair with maternal affection and placed a hand on his shivering arm. He felt a comforting warmth pass through his body and looked up to see Anya. How rude had he been to her since the beginning and here she was, not abandoning him like the rest although he deserved it. His emerald eyes had lost all childish sparkle and instead now looked up at her with a dull haunted look. She stood up abruptly and made her way into an empty cabin, away from Luke who reminded her of herself those many years ago.


	8. Asch's truth, Anya's memories

Chapter eight

**I'll be using quotation marks like these 'Hey', when Luke and Asch talk in their minds. Italics writing with "this" means flashback.**

Anya fiddled around with the silver snowflake shaped locket in the silver chain that had been inside the letter from Legretta. Thousands of thoughts ran through her head; her home, her students, friends and….Lezard. The thought of Lezard was like a blow to the stomach. He was the one who had cast the teleport spell in the first place right? Shouldn't he know where she was? If he did, then was he looking for her? She knew this wasn't even reasonable; after all she had been the one to end their relationship for no reason at all. But maybe once she returned home, she would make up for it although she didn't see how that one would work out.

"Anya", she looked up at Guy who had entered unnoticed, "We're here. Hey, you alright?", he asked her as she suddenly cried out in pain.

"Yeah, just cramps", she told him, plastering a smile, "I'll be there". Guy nodded and left the room.

The group trudged into Yulia City with deadly silence over them. There was a long walkway leading to the inner part of the city where they were headed to meet Mayor Teodoro, Tear's grandfather. Luke, who was taking up the rear stopped completely as soon as the others were well ahead of him. Tear and Anya stopped, a little ahead of him.

"Everyone's already gone to the mayor's house", Tear told him coldly, not even turning back, "How long will you stand there?".

"I-I can't go in there", he said in a small voice, "They'll keep accusing me and-and", he hung his head not being able to go on.

"You're even more pathetic than I thought, Reject", the uncomfortable silence was shattered by a loud yell from behind Luke.

They whirled around to see Asch making his way towards Luke.

"Where's Van?", Luke asked him, looking riled.

"I don't know", was Asch's reply, "I just escaped from him. And what the hell do you think you just did?", he yelled at Luke, incensed, "To Akzeriuth?".

Luke didn't reply to that. Anya stepped forward, "Asch, don't just blame Luke for the whole incident", she told him, "Van betr-" but she was interrupted by Luke.

"Why? Why did Master Van make me do this?", Luke asked nobody in particular.

"I don't know do I?", Asch said, "and stop acting like you did nothing".

"I didn't", Luke cried out weakly more to himself, now that he was slowly getting aware of the depth of his doings, "I didn't do this".

"Damn you Reject. Are all replica brains this defective?", Asch scorned.

"Replica?", Luke asked confused, "Master Van used that word too".

"What?" Asch asked him incredulously, "You still haven't figured it out? Is this someone's idea of a joke?".

"What do you mean?", Luke asked.

"Asch!", Tear warned, "Don't-"

"Seven years ago, I was Luke Fon Fabre", Asch told him slowly, watching his expression with some pleasure, "A villain by the name of Van kidnapped me and created a replica which he replaced in my stead", he finished with slight sadism at the horror on Luke's face.

"No", Luke shouted, "I can't be a-a…" he trailed off.

"Yes, that's right", Asch told him, "You're a second rate copy of me".

"I won't accept this", Luke shouted and suddenly unsheathed his sword from behind, getting into a battle stance.

"The mere replica wants to fight me?" Asch commented, "Let's see just how pathetic you are" and he too unsheathed his sword, holding it much in the same way as Luke, except with more confidence.

The two started battling in a very similar style; of course they had both been taught under Van. Truly they were mirror images of each other, their red mane of hair only different by a minimal amount of color. Soon enough anyone could comprehend that Asch was the stronger and skilled of the two. Finally Asch cast 'Rending Fang Blade' causing Luke to lose his footing and the God-general held the tip of his Maestro sword against the replica's neck.

"I can't believe I lost everything to a pathetic wretch like you", Asch yelled, contempt clear in his eyes and tone, "My home, my family and…everyone".

Luke felt everything go hazy, his vision blinding as Asch's yelling became distant and the world went black.

"Asch", Tear entered her room to see Asch fixing his hair in front of her mirror, "Go talk to my grandfather. Now", she ordered and went away again.

"Okay. Okay", he replied, "Don't shout".

'Luke. Can you hear me?'

'What's happening? Why is Tear looking at me and calling me Asch? Why am I wearing your clothes?'

'You and I are connected', Asch told him, 'Two perfect isofons can connect via their fon slots. I had yours adjusted back at Choral Castle'.

'So that's why you can order me to move as you like?', Luke asked in his mind though he was still asleep, remembering when he had tried to turn his sword on Tear at Chesedonia.

'Well yeah, but I doubt a dreck like you can pull off something like that', Asch told him arrogantly.

'Just watch, you wait', Luke told him, 'Hey, why can't I make you move?'. Asch smirked at the replica's futile attempts and exited.

"Go talk to the Mayor", Tear told him as soon as he reached downstairs where Tear was reading a book on the Sushi recipe.

"What about you?" Asch asked.

"I'm not returning to the Outer Lands", Tear told him and he left.

Asch asked the Mayor for any possible ways to go back to the Outer Lands and he told the red head about a mechanism from the Dawn Age which could create a Sepiroth tree and raise the Tartarus.

Asch made his way outside to find Guy merely looking around, awed at the fon machines and Dawn Age technology. He rolled his eyes and instead began looking for the others who were interested in going back to the Outer Lands. He found Anise conversing with Anya and Jade while Natalia looking slightly depressed stood way far away from the rest of them.

His heart beat rose as he approached her, hesitating because he really didn't know what to say after so many years of separation.

'Hey what's wrong with you? I had no ide-'

'Get away', was Asch's answer as he closed the connection to approach Natalia.

"Luke!", Natalia exclaimed as she looked up, "Asch?", she asked slowly, "You really are Luke aren't you?".

"It's Asch", he told her curtly, "Don't call me by that name anymore". She nodded and wondered if he was remembering the proposal he'd made as a child, their gazes remained locked. Natalia stepped closer to Asch and touched his shoulder lightly who almost went red as his hair. He looked down at her other hand and took it in his, pulling her closer with a gentleness almost unpredictable of the God- general he was assumed to be.

"Asch, what's the plan now?" Anise came up to them suddenly and realized too late that she had interrupted a private moment, "Uh, I-uh, sorry", she said meekly and rushed back to the others.

Asch groaned inwardly and let go of her almost fiercely as the two blushed much like they did when they had been kids. He turned away to discuss their time for leaving the gloomy and unpleasant Qlipoth but found that they had left the two of them alone.

"Let's go Natalia", he suddenly said when he was already walking away, leaving a thoroughly confused Natalia behind. At his invitation, she cheered up and accompanied him, even happier to see a genuine smile gracing his usually angry features.

"Ugh!", Anise fumed, "Why? Why do I always end up interrupting people at unwanted times?".

"Do you plan to tell us anytime soon what's bothering you?" Jade asked the young girl who had seemed embarrassed ever since she had joined the four of them in an empty room.

"Well", she started, "I actually kind of intruded upon Asch and Natalia when-" she didn't need to continue, "It's kind of annoying you know", she said thoughtfully, "I mean first the Colonel-" Anya gave her a stop-talking-now look and she covered up her mistake, "the Colonel's crew on the ferry and now those two".

"The crew?" Guy asked, "There were women on the ferry? How come I didn't know that?".

"Who said anything about women Guy?" Anya asked smirking.

"Yeah, don't tell me you weren't aware of Man/man things", Anise teased him.

"Come to think of it" Anya mused out, "You're afraid of women, right Guy? Maybe you're more comfortable around-"

"Or", Jade stated with a smirk, "Maybe the phobia is just a pretension to mask your true feelings. If that is so then I'd be glad to keep my distance. Personally, I'm not the man/man types" he ended, backing away from Guy to emphasize his point.

"I-I, shut up all of you", Guy shouted, going red, "I love women, what's gotten into all of you?" he glared at them as the two girls and Ion cracked up with laughter and of course Jade wore his satisfied grin. The door opened and Natalia and Asch came in, the latter frowning slightly at the light mood.

"Well", he started, "I've talked to the Mayor and he says everything's prepared, when do you want to start for the Outer Lands?".

"I wouldn't mind right away", Jade told him, "The earlier the better".

"Right away? Can't we-" Anya hesitated nibbling on her lower lip. She had been hoping to check up on Luke and if possible, even talk.

"I don't see the point in lingering here", Jade said and made his way out followed by Asch and Natalia.

"It's okay", Guy's whisper came from Anya's right, "We'll see him later. I'm sure Tear's taking great care of him". Anya forced a smile and the rest of them headed for the Tartarus.

"Whoa!", Anise let out as the Tartarus jerked violently, trying to look at the Qlipoth that was now miles away.

"It certainly feels good to be back up here", Natalia commented as she took in the blue skies again.

"So where do we go now?", Anya asked from beside Guy where she was also maneuvering the Tartarus.

"How about we go to the closest port from here?" Guy asked.

"We could get the Tartarus repaired temporarily at Chesedonia", Jade told them as the land ship jerked for no good reason. Yep, the ship definitely needed repairing soon.

"Fine", Asch replied moodily, "That's to the Northwest of here".

"What about Ion and me?" Anise asked Asch, "I want you to take us back to Daath".

"I'll do that once we're done with Belkend", he told her.

"Belkend?", she asked, "Why would we-"

"There's a lab in Belkend where Van's been seen frequently", Asch interrupted, "We need to get as much information as possible now. We don't really have much leads at the moment".

"Yeah, start with what we can huh?" Anya commented.

The group reached Chesedonia by evening and decided to spend the night there despite much denial from Asch. However, Ion wasn't looking too good and Anise insisted on staying in the inn for the night. Jade obviously agreed with something about old bones receiving groans from everyone. They rented separate rooms and Anya dropped her heavy sword very happily.

Once they met Aston who had fed them very heavily again, the group hurried away towards the Inn to escape the overwhelming lavish gaudiness of the palace (with some complaints from Anise of course). At least the Tartarus would be ready and set by early morning.

Anya sighed and told the rest of them that she would like to spend some time alone at the docks and went away.

"I'll be going to the bar if you children wouldn't mind", Jade told them and walked away, not waiting for Anise's "of course we do". She shook her head and followed the Colonel at his heels muttering about a useless Drunk Colonel in battles. She turned around and shouted, "Be okay Ion" and took off before she lost sight of Jade in the dark alleys of Chesedonia.

Anya had changed her clothes in Yulia City and was now dressed in all black which included a short black dress and knee high black boots that she had last bought in Chesedonia. She pulled out a scrunchie and tied up her hair in a messy ponytail leaving an array of bangs which she liked to shake out of her eyes every now and then. The dock was silent save the distant uproars from the bar and the breeze really did help to calm her down. She needed to think, needed a plan without consulting anybody. Damn those God-generals, now they had her completely cornered. She fingered the silver locket and knew only one way….

"Colonel!", Anise shouted through the din to be heard. _Really, why on earth did grown-ups have to get drunk,_ she scowled as a couple was almost making out right in public.

"Anise", Jade turned to her, "This is not a place for children. I think it's your bed time".

"Yeah well, it wouldn't be good if you woke up with a headache tomorrow", she reasoned, "The bar's about to close in a few minutes anyway".

"Ha-ha", he laughed, "Anise, it's just a pint. Besides I'm an old man, do give me some time to relax".

"Yo", there was a shout from behind, "Think you can serve us-"

"No", the hulking blonde barman said, "I'll be goin' now".

"Where to mate?" the previous man asked.

"The docks", the barman replied, "Fresh air", he added with a large bottle of whiskey in one hand.

A few minute later, the man behind Jade and Anise gave the door a dark look, "Well", he said to his companion, "Just hope there isn't any girl there at this time of the night. Ain't very gentle when he's drunk".

The Colonel and Anise turned to look at each other and knew what was on the other's mind as Jade stood up keeping his cool and Anise bolted for the door.

"Colonel, she'll be okay right. I mean she's capable of taking care of herself".

"Anise", Jade blocked her way, "Go back to the inn, I'll get Anya". The unpleasant sensation was a gut feeling that he wasn't about to dismiss.

"But-"

"Now", he commanded in his orderly tone and Anise nodded turning away. She made sure that the Colonel was out of sight before starting to follow his trail towards the dock. Honestly, he should have known better than to trust Anise to go back.

* * *

Anya paced the docks taking in the moonlit sea. She tugged down at the hem of her very short dress. Really, what had made her get it again in the first place_?. Oh yeah, Anise and Guy,_ she remembered Anise's comments of giving her an 'assassin look' and Guy's 'irresistible shape display'. She was glad she had worn a matching blazer, now that the night was getting cooler. She heard heavy footsteps behind and decided she should really get going for a much required sleep.

"Ooh sweetie", she heard a slurred drawling voice and tensed. She turned around frowning slightly to see a six foot man almost as large as Largo, his long blond hair disheveled and a lecherous smile plastered on his bloodless face. Sure enough, there was a drink bottle in his hand. "So, how much you charge?".

"Shut up", she felt her rage surfacing, "Get away from me."

This only widened his smile, "I like them feisty" and throwing his bottle away, he approached her, much in a beastly fashion.

Her heart fluttered. Why had she left her sword today? How the hell had she not seen anything coming? But again he was just a drunk guy right? She threw a kick at his shin making him howl in pain and dashed away before things could get worse. She felt a rough pull at her wrist and was face-to-face with the barman. He steadied her by the shoulders and kissed her making her flinch.

"Let me go" she ordered in an intimidating manner trying not to gag on his breath that was heavy with wine.

"Not so fast", he said tugging at her blazer and feeling the skin on her arm. She shivered, not out of cold. How was she getting so weak after training herself up? His hand was exploring more of her roughly and she felt tears in the corner of her eyes. She wouldn't let him see her weakened by this cheapskate. He pulled her closer pressing his body to hers and kissed her neck savagely. "I do enjoy the taste of soft skin", he growled dangerously ignoring her protests.

"_Think you can get away after what you did to my child?"_

"_It was an accident. Please"._

"Hey", she suddenly said, "How about we go somewhere else?".

"Oh, changed our mind have we?" he smiled and loosened his grip. In a flash Anya brought up her knee to kick somewhere but it got his stomach instead which seemed to be made of steel. Damn it! He yanked her by the hair and pulled her vulgarly close again and she grit her teeth in frustration. She wasn't going down without a fight.

"_You'll pay for this one, dear"._

"_No! Mr. Karros please don't hurt me"._

"Think you can do that with me you bitch? Trust me; I'm not the nicest person when angry".

"Neither am I", said a voice from behind and whoever it was, pulled Anya from the barman's grasp, "Anise, take care of her". She got a whiff of the cologne and knew who it was.

"Who d'ya think- oh you're that guy from the bar", the barman recognized and scowled.

"I don't think I've introduced myself properly", Jade replied coolly, "I am Jade the Necromancer", he said this part softly and took an intimidating step toward the blond, "I'd be very much insulted if not anything else if you haven't heard of me. I'm quite famous for scavenging corpses at nights like this". He walked towards the girls behind him, "Anise, take her back to the inn. I would like to play with this one for a little while" and before Anya could thank him, he had returned to torture the barman.

"So", Jade started, "You probably happen to know that I am Colonel Jade Curtiss of Malkuth" the man nodded looking from side to side for an escape. Despite the fact that he could easily overpower Jade in a hand fight, the Colonel's piercing crimson gaze was as creepy as ever.

"I could charge you with quite a lot of things you know", he told the barman, "For an attempt on a woman's life-"

"I a'int done nothing like that", the man finally seemed to find his voice.

"Oh, and would anyone take your word over mine?", Jade asked him and when the man didn't answer, he continued, "Exactly. So I could also charge you with the sexual assault on a Malkuth General. Yes, she's an ally of mine", he added for the benefit of seeing the man's face going if possible, even paler.

"I am a rather frequent visitor at Chesedonia under disguises at times of course. So, do try being decent because I won't be sparing filth like you again if I _ever _catch sight of something suspicious", Jade ended the talk and watched the man limping away in satisfaction. The girl sure did have a powerful kick. He frowned slightly at the thought of Anya's sudden frailty but it sure would be a long time before that idiotic blond tried anything again.

"Anise", Anya had calmed down and now smiled at the teenager, "I can walk up to my room by myself".

"The Colonel wouldn't approve of it", she replied leading Anya once again upstairs, "I am supposed to be protecting you at the moment. What kind of a soldier would I be if I left you alone now?".

Anya sighed knowing just how stubborn the young girl could be. They entered her dark room and she turned to Anise, "It's alright now. Go get some sleep okay. We don't need to be carrying you in the morning".

"If it wasn't for Ion, I would volunteer to stay here with you", Anise told her, "good night okay?". She closed the door hesitantly. The older girl had almost looked traumatized earlier. She didn't know what had caused this but was sure enough it was something better left unknown, something Anya wouldn't think appropriate for her ears.

Jade sat down on his bed and opened his glasses sighing exhaustedly, although tired was the last thing he felt. Just as he was about to place his glasses on the table beside, he decided to go check on Anya. Really, what had gotten into him? Was it compassion? Maybe it was the fact that he was the oldest and wisest of them all but he exited his room anyway.

Anya took off her frayed blazer and began undoing her boots. She sat down on her bed and drew her knees up to her chest. Resting her chin on her knees she closed her eyes and one could see a light scar on the back of her low-cut dress in the moonlight.

At any other time of the year she would have preferred the solitude but right now she wished she had someone to hold her. _Lezard, where are you now?_

A knock at the door startled her from her thoughts and she put her legs down in a more decent position. "Come in" she replied and the man in teal uniform was truly the last person she had expected then.

"Colonel!" she exclaimed, "W-what are you doing here?".

"You don't look all that pleased to see me at your door", Jade said teasingly.

She laughed and motioned for him to come inside. He sat down at the edge of her bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked, to the point.

"I'm fine", she said with a smile that did not reach her eyes, "Thanks for asking though" she turned sideways and his eyes caught sight of the scar.

"What's this?" he asked motioning towards it. His eyes narrowed when her lips thinned to a line and she looked down. It didn't look recent enough to hurt. She avoided his eyes and looked out the window. The feeling was overwhelming.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked surprising himself as well at this friendly gesture.

The room was silent for a minute and Jade waited patiently. This wasn't an indication for him to leave; rather she seemed to be pondering her options.

"It was the boy", she started in a monotone, "Irvine Karros, my best friend. We always used to hang out together. Inseparable, that's how mother put it. We got close to each other and we fell for each other,cliche huh? It may have been a childish infatuation of a fourteen year old but still, at the time we made promises of marrying like Natalia and Asch" she sighed at the memories, a little confused and continued. Why was it difficult to keep those old things in mind?

"We were quite the daredevils and would venture off to the snowy mountains for practice of any kind, just the two of us without anyone's knowledge. We sometimes fought the monsters just for the satisfaction of my extraordinary strength and to teach him. Then that evening, something unusual happened. My powers went out of control and the ice around Irvine cracked-and-and" her face had paled as though she would faint any moment.

"He was drowning. I tried to help him but I was exhausted and he just…slipped away" she whispered. How was this happening? She didn't remember ever having been in such an incident and yet she felt like this particular episode was a part of her life. Maybe it had been another lifetime…

"Seeing no other way I went over at his place. He lived with his dad, didn't have a mother. Anyway, I somehow broke the news to him and he got so enraged that he-he-" she looked downright terrified now, haunted even. Why did it scare her so much?

"_It was an accident Mr. Karros; I didn't mean to hurt Irvine". She whispered, terrified when the glass flew from Mr. Karros's hand and caused the mirror behind her to break._

"_You are the reason I've lost my one and only child" he shouted, "It's no wonder everyone thinks so lowly of you. If I'd known what you would-"_

_She was crying now. She had killed someone, robbed a father of his son and caused the death of her only best friend._

"_You murdering bitch" he spat, "You'll pay for this one, dear". He took a step towards the young teenager, his dark eyes glowing dangerously._

_She looked up wide eyed at his towering muscular form just as he slapped her hard across the face. He yanked her up by the hair into a standing position making her cry out. _

"_No! Please don't hurt me Mr. Karros" she sobbed._

"_There's no one to hear your pleas" he told her and didn't stop the hard slap that came again only causing the young girl to fall hard across the floor and gaining a large cut on her shoulder blade from the broken mess. __Suddenly the bell rang and a few seconds later a maid knocked the door to the room. He immediately clamped a hand over Anya's mouth._

"_What is it?" he asked._

"_It's General Grants. He wants to see you"._

"_Show him to the living room" was his answer. He got up leaving a shuddering Anya to sit up._

_He rounded on her again, "Listen carefully now. Not a single word of what happened here right now. Don't try anything with me. It's only because General Grants arrived that I'm sparing you". She nodded and herself to shield herself from this beast. Blood was still running down her back and stained the floor._

"_What are you waiting for", he shouted at her, "Go and stop that bleeding. I don't want to have to explain this to anyone. Now remember, not a word" with that he was dressed smartly enough as though he had just been doing some paperwork and exited._

_She tore off a piece of cloth from her dress and wrapped it around the cut as best as she could and then dressed up. Shaken as she was, it wouldn't do to give Mr. Karros another chance for anything so she stopped crying and tried to put on a normal expression._

_A maid came to inform her that she was summoned in the drawing room. She nodded and went to meet the two men on wobbly legs. As soon as she entered, Van asked her what was wrong._

"_My son died a while ago. She found the body near the mountains", Mr. Karros told him tearfully, "The two were best friends. It's got her a little traumatized so I thought I would let her stay here until she was calm enough to go back home"._

"_Ah I see. My apologies sir" Van said gravely, "I came looking for you actually", he told Anya, "Your parents were worried. They looked all over for you and I guessed you would be here if not anywhere else. So we shall make our departure now" he told Mr. Karros who nodded and showed them to the door._

Anya hugged her knees to her chest and rested her head on them. She wasn't one to cry easily so why did she always end up doing that around people? At least recently. Her bangs shielded her face from Jade's eyes thankfully. She felt a gentle pressure around her shoulder.

"Anya", Jade started, "I won't tell you that what happened was for the best. But what you have to realize is that, this is what has made you grow up, become the person you are today. You have any idea what could've happened to you after all that? You might have succumbed to insanity, depression or suicide for that matter. The ultimate truth is rather hard to grasp and it's not everyone who's capable of it".

"Yeah" she whispered in agreement and smiled, "I never thought the day would come when I'd see you being so nice. It's scary but quite welcome at the moment..."

He knew what she wanted but remained rooted where he was but when she indulged herself and leant into him he moved almost unwillingly. His hands were working on their own and his thoughts were slightly clouded as he removed her bangs from her eyes. He lifted her face by the chin and pressed his lips to hers. This was the only thing he could give a woman, the only form of comfort he could come up with.

It wasn't close to what had happened at the ferry; this was gentle and sweet. His lips were surprisingly soft and warm for the person he was well known for. Was this Jade Curtiss? The man who killed in cold blood? How strange it was that he should be the one comforting her; one arm around her in a protective embrace, his other hand caressing her cheek. And this time, she was with no one else but Jade; Lezard didn't even cross her mind. It felt right somehow.

He pulled away gently and smiled, "You've had a long night. I think it's time you get some rest".

"Yeah", she agreed, "You too or else your old bones might wear out and trust me, we aren't going to be carrying you".

"If you woud like to have the honour of doing so-"

"Forget i said that." Anya interrupted and he smirked.

"Good night". He was closing the door when he heard his name and turned back to see her head peeking out of the sheets

"Jade", she said with a smile. Not Colonel, but his name. "Thank you".

**HEEEE!So guys...do u like JadeXanya?ell me if her character or Jade's is going wrong!**


	9. Luke's resolve and Freya

**Chapter nine**

Luke suddenly felt as though a heavy door was slammed close right inside his head and realized that Asch must have closed the connection with as much annoyance as possible. Oh, he would pay for that one….once he learned to use the connection.

He opened his eyes, expecting to see the white decorative ceiling of his small room back at the manor but was met with a dark wooden looking ceiling instead. Where was he? He sat up suddenly wincing slightly noticing the reddish marks on his chest to find himself on a soft comfortable bed with a cat plushie beside his pillow. Well, the bed sheet and the doll was very much to Tear's taste and he had a sneaking suspicion that at the moment that he had been sleeping in Tear's bed. He couldn't help but blush at the sudden thought.

Then everything came flooding back…Legretta's fight, miasma infected people, Van, the Sephiroth trees and then…the battle with Asch in Yulia City. So that's where he was. Tear's home.

He wondered where she was at the moment and just how she would react at the sight of him. For heaven's sake, he almost felt disgusted by himself at the moment. He was a nobody, whose existence was never meant to be. He was a tool of destruction and a vessel carrying the weight of murdering thousands. A stupid trusting fool without an identity. He wasn't Luke Fon Fabre anymore; Asch's last encounter had robbed him of that privilege. But he didn't have another name so…

"Master! You're awake" a sudden loud squeal interrupted his thoughts. He looked up to see the blue cheagle standing on the table beside staring at him with his large eyes.

"Mieu", he said nicely for a change, "Can you tell me where Tear is?"

The cheagle pointed to a door to their left with his very tiny hands, "She's in there Master".

"Thanks Mieu", he said with a smile and realized that he was probably thanking the little creature for the first time.

He opened the door hesitantly and almost expected Tear to start casting some sort of spell on him the moment he entered or worse, ignore him completely as though he was a part of the wall. He closed the door behind him still with his eyes downcast and was stunned at the sight before him.

It was a perfectly circular area with glass walls on all sides and a small garden in the middle. It was composed of only one kind of flower that was white and shone with a heavenly glow. In the middle of it was Tear singing a fonic hymn. "_She really has a beautiful voice_" he thought and the memory of a part of their journey made him cringe.

"_I was wondering about your fonic hymns", he told her, "I've read about those, aren't they passed down from one generation to the next of Yulia's?", he asked._

"_Well yes", Tear replied, "I've been told that I'm a descendant of Yulia but I'm not so sure"._

"_You do have a beautiful voice Tear", Ion told her sincerely._

_She blushed and thanked him._

"_Now that you mention it", Luke started, "You're right. She's got a great voice". Tear looked positively like a tomato now, "Shame with the personality though", he ended and Tear acted as though he wasn't even present there._

She hadn't chnaged out of her Order of Lorelei outfit. Ready and set dor everything, anything to come by. That was the Tear he knew and trusted. Trust...something he surely didn't deserve from his friends had her back to him, her brown hair flying but she seemed to notice his arrival for she turned her face slightly to her left. She still had a knife strapped to her waist though.

Luke walked up to her silently, "Is this a garden?" he asked knowing this was a very pathetic attempt at starting a conversation.

"Yes" she answered quietly, "They are Selenias" she told him motioning towards the flowers, "They grow in absence of light, they're the only flowers that grow in the Qlipoth. The Outer Lands prevent any light from reaching here". She turned to him and switched to a cooler tone, "Anyway, you looked like you wanted to talk about something".

He was momentarily struggling for speech, "Y-yeah. I want to go back to the Outer Lands" he told her. She told him that that wasn't possible.

"Tear!" he shook her by the shoulders, "St. Binah's going to fall because of the Sephiroth tree I destroyed. The areas around Akzeriuth are in danger of collapsing". She stared at him wide eyed and removed his hands.

"How do you know all this?" she asked him with her arms crossed across her chest.

"Asch and I are connected" he replied, "I could see everything they were doing through him".

There was silence for some time when Luke decided to voice out what he had been thinking all along.

"Tear" he started slowly, "I-I've been thinking for sometime, a-about Akzeriuth. I want to make up for it-"

"Luke" Tear interrupted coldly, "It's not something you can make up for by apologizing".

He nodded, "I know that. That's why I want to change". His statement hung in the air for a few seconds before Tear spoke.

"Do you think you can do that?" she asked him, "Do you think you can change with the burden of what you've done?"

He looked up at her, "Tear, I won't ask you to trust me right away but I'm serious about wanting to change. I don't want to be the annoying kid I used to be. I want to learn things for myself; I want to be able to think for myself". He looked at the ground intently not trusting himself to look up at her. He wasn't lying, he meant every bit of what he had said. Just because he was a replica….no, it wouldn't do to think about that now.

Tear was surveying the red head. He did seem to be regretful about what he had done and he seemed somehow different. She had expected him to be a bit more exasperating about the replica situation but he hadn't even brought up the subject. That was a good sign.

"Tear" he suddenly spoke up startling her, "I want you to watch me from here and now. Please. I may make mistakes on my way but I'll try my best not to let worse get to worst."

Tear pondered this for a while before speaking up, "Fine. I'll be watching you from now. But remember, I can give up on you any time". They stood there in the glow of the Selenias, neither knowing what to say next. Luke's head suddenly shot up.

"Tear" he exclaimed, "You carry knives on you don't you?" She nodded, frowning.

"Could I borrow one?" She handed Luke a knife. He took hold of his long flowing hair that Tear had been forced to admire before and began running the knife through it.

"Luke!" she exclaimed with her visible eye wide. He merely looked up at her still working on his hair. Half a minute later he held his mane of red hair in his palms. Smiling, he let go of it. They both watched as the strands flew away in the wind. Luke turned to Tear with a soft smile, "It's saying goodbye to who I've been". She tilted her head slightly and couldn't help the smile that came to her face.

"Shall we go talk to your grandfather then?" Luke asked her, "He'll know what to do right? About St. Binah I mean. We don't need another Akzeriuth". She nodded and led the way to the conference room where mayor Teodoro would be available.

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"Ah", Teodoro looked up to see the two walk into the room, "so you're the-"he looked at Luke and decided against completing his sentence, "You really do look the same".

Luke only felt something of remorse, "I'm sorry about what happened to Akzeriuth".

"There's no need for that", Teodoro told him good-naturedly,"the destruction of Akzeriuth was written in the Score". The news hung between them for a few seconds.

"W-what?" Luke asked disbelievingly, "But then-then why didn't you do anything about it if you knew this would happen?" He was now almost shouting and the old man's smile didn't do anything to help him calm.

"Grandfather" Tear looked angry as well, "Luke's right, why weren't the citizens evacuated?"

"This was part of the closed Score. If the citizens knew about it then there would have been panicking and chaos" Teodoro told them as though that justified for everything. "We cannot deviate from the Score".

"Who cares about the Score?" Luke asked, "we're talking about thousands of human lives here".

"Oh, but the people of the Outer Lands are very dependent on the Score", Teodoro told him.

Tear didn't see any way of reasoning with him, " it at that. But what about St. Binah? That area's about to fall too".

Teodoro smiled again making Luke's blood boil, "there's no need to worry about St. Binah. The Score doesn't say anything about its collapse".

"Well, I still think we need to check just in case" Luke told him. He sighed and told them about Yulia Road which would take them to the Outer Lands.

Tear said that she needed something so they returned to her room before departing. She began fumbling through a drawer and extracted a small book. She turned to Luke, "My brother hated the Score" Luke halted fixing his hair and listened to her intently. This was the first time she was talking about herself to him.

"We were originally from Hod. When it fell into the Qliphoth, Van used a fonic hymn to save himself and mother who was pregnant with me then. When he was told that the destruction of Hod was written in the Score and that's why no one tried to save the land, he began to despise the Score and its ways. I overheard him talking to Major Legretta about annihilating the Outer Lands. I knew he was planning something horrible and had to stop him but I guess I failed" she said and hung her head.

"It wasn't your fault Tear" Luke immediately interjected, "I destroyed Akzer-"

"I can't blame you alone for it" she told him and then stood up.

"Tear, thanks for telling me this" Luke told her, "I think I understand you better now".

Tear looked at him surprised, "That's the first time you've thanked me for anything".

Luke scratched the back of his head uncomfortably and was spared the answer when Tear handed him the book, "It's a book on fonology. I though you could learn about controlling your hyperresonance this way". He thanked her again making Mieu squeal that the two of them were getting close. Luke blushed and they made their way to the Yulia Road.

Tear, Luke and Mieu stepped into the glyph inside a room which teleported the trio into a water spring. Luke looked down at his feet, shocked that they weren't drenched. Tear explained that it was Yulia who had built that mechanism.

"Everything about dawn Age seems so…advanced" Luke mused out.

"Yes" Tear admitted, "It's true. Even we don't know how everything was created back then. That's why the things left from Dawn age at Yulia City can't be replaced. We have to be very careful".

"Monsters!" Mieu squeaked and sure enough, the place was swarming with monsters. Sighing, Tear readied her staff as Luke unsheathed his sword. This wasn't going to be an easy journey.

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Jade woke them all up by the crack of dawn saying that this way the group could pass, unnoticed, into Belkend. So all of them, except Jade, of course, made their way to the Tartarus with droopy eyes. Once inside the ship, Jade went off to the main controls and the others began working, yawning every now and then. Natalia had taken Anise's place after fifteen minutes of journey because the teen had actually fallen asleep, much to Jade's annoyance.

The group reached Belkend within hours and made their way to the laboratory. Guy ran into the city as soon as the Tartarus touched land at the port. The fon machines around with their ear grinding noise wasn't very attractive to anyone save Guy.

They entered the vast laboratory and had to try hard not to get frustrated at the maze like design of the place. They had either ended up at the same place twice or the previous place looked just like this one.

"Argh!" Anise let out, "Where are we going? I bet we can never find our way out of her".

"Anise, relax" Ion told her smilingly.

They entered another doorway with Anise threatening to return to the entrance if nothing was found when they saw a short man with glasses, slightly stooped with age in the middle of the hall. He looked up with annoyance and then his eyes widened.

"Luke!" he exclaimed. When the red head didn't answer, he realized, "Asch".

"Yes Dr. Spinoza", he said curtly, "Has Van been here recently?" he asked to the point.

"Well no actually, not after last month when he came to discuss about the preservation project-". Spinoza suddenly stopped seeming to have realized that maybe he had said too much.

"What preservation project?" Asch asked. Spinoza shook his head and Jade interrupted.

"You've been creating replicas for Van's aid haven't you?" he asked motioning towards Asch who glared at him.

"Y-yes, so?" Spinoza asked.

"So it's a forbidden technology" Jade replied.

"Oh I see" Spinoza sneered, "But let me remind you Colonel Jade Curtiss or rather Dr. Jade Balfour-" there was a gasp from Anya who clapped a hand to her mouth and Spinoza continued, "You _are_ the father of fomicry".

Everyone gave wide eyed looks which Jade as usual ignored, "Yes, I'm well aware of the fact. That is why I forbade it. To practice fomicry on living organisms can cause ethical issues and other problems".

Spinoza sighed, "You're mistaken if you think it was Van who made me resurrect fomicry. In fact, it was well before Van talked to me about it. Eight years ago".

"I don't see how I can still let you go without an arrest-"Jade began but was interrupted by a frenzied Spinoza.

"You must understand" he cried out, "She was so young…so sad and haunted. You wouldn't be able to stop yourself from helping her out if you'd seen her".

"So who's this 'she'?" Jade asked him.

"A girl, not more than twelve" Spinoza started in a distant voice as he remembered that day. He wouldn't forget her. She was covered up in a travelling cloak as though winter had arrived when it was a stifling hot day.

"She seemed to be trying to remain inconspicuous, almost as though she was on the run" he told them, "She just came in and…and handed me a baby which I presume was around three years old or so".

"A baby?" Anise asked frowning, not sure where this story was going.

"Yes" Spinoza said, "The young girl-"

"Would you care to remember her name?" Jade interjected, "There are many 'young girls' and I wouldn't want to go arresting every one of them".

'Whoa! Jade's gonna arrest a little girl?'

'If you hadn't heard Spinoza clearly, that was eight years ago. She'll be way older now' Asch replied to his replica through his mind communication.

"Yes, yes" Spinoza said faintly, fixing his glasses. He looked exhausted.

"_You could try telling me your name" Spinoza asked the girl._

_The girl raised her head, her jet black bangs covering her eyes, "Freya" she answered with a slight twitch in her lips as though the name was unpleasant to her ears._

"_That's a beautiful name my dear. What's wrong?" Spinoza asked her noticing her expression._

_After a few moments of silence she answered, "That name disgusts me. I don't want to be called by that name anymore. I-" she stopped immediately realizing she was speaking about herself too much. For a twelve year old she had a cool fascia but it suited the mature aura around her. Something about her suggested that she had seen more to life's dark side than any other child of her age. _

_She undid her cloak revealing a white knee length frock. Her skin was almost as white despite the heat. But it all was in contrast to her hair which was a shade of black with a violent violet tinge to it and an eye covered. It hung down to her waist, not in elegant curls that would have suited her but in a slightly tangled mess and split into many sections, some falling past her shoulders and a few stray tendrils._

_It was now he noticed a bundle in her hand that looked like…_

"_Doctor, please" she said holding out the bundle that happened to be a baby girl to him, "you have to create a replica for me". Spinoza stared thunder struck at her. This was the last thing he had expected; really, what in the world was she asking? How could she have known about him?_

"_How did you know?" he asked her shakily taking a seat. She scowled and folded the baby in its garb gently, careful to leave the small face uncovered. She had overheard him talking to her father the other day. He had said something about some knights and all but it didn't matter to her. What had held her ears was the mention of a talented man expert in fomicry. Oh she knew what fomicry was, she had even- _

"_Freya?" Spinoza asked the young girl who had drifted off to some thoughts with an eerie smile._

_Freya snapped out of her thoughts with a frown adorning her dark features, "That isn't any of your business Dr. Spinoza. I need you to do this for me-"_

"_Fomicry is banned" he reasoned, "I would get arrest-"_

"_No one would have to know" she interjected, "You do this here and now and please hear me out" she added with her eyes unblinking. Her eyes weren't necessarily as dark as her hair but the brown in them wasn't very visible._

"_There's a problem with this child" she started slowly so as to make him understand every word of his, "She has heart problems but I know there's a way of overcoming that. After you're done with creating the replica, you have to perform a heart transplant. Actually, I want to do the transplant. You only have to provide me with the necessary things and keep watch over me". She finished her explanation and stared at him._

_Spinoza was once again awed at this strange girl. She was a smart girl; the way of thinking wasn't a normal feat, a little twisted maybe but still._

"_But this child in your hand isn't old enough-"_

"_She's two and a half" Freya interrupted, "Just try it alright. The other doctors said she doesn't have much time. Isn't it better off to try working out something rather than leave a little girl to die? She hasn't even seen life. You could be the one to give her a chance" she ended passionately, finally showing some trace of emotion in her. _

_Spinoza looked down at the covered baby in Freya's arms and pondered on the girl's words. She now looked up at him with her eyes large and unblinking, melancholy clear in those irises. _

"_Please" she whispered, "I don't want my sister to waste away. I-" she choked on her words and then-_

"_You must do this" she said in a dangerously soft voice, now standing up and approaching him slowly._

"_I'm afraid I don't quite understand you" Spinoza said a little intimidated, "This baby cannot undergo fomicry and transplant-"_

"_Oh I'm sorry" she suddenly said, "I forgot the actual point. You'll be creating a replica of another healthy child so that we can use her heart for the transplant". _

"_But what of that replica then?" he asked._

"_She'll be disposed of" Freya said simply. Spinoza stared at her. What steps was the girl taking for her sister's life. But how could he just create someone and then let it die…_

"_You'll be doing this here and now. I don't care who you choose for the process, I just need my sister alive. And if you dare to disobey me" she threw an icy glare at him and brought her face close to his, now savoring the look of fear in the old man's eyes, "I know ways to make you listen" she ended softly. Finally Spinoza, sweating slightly nodded shakily. Freya straightened up with a triumphant smile._

"_Should everything be complete by tomorrow then doctor?" she asked as any other normal patient might have, "I'll be in the inn. Just pick me up from there for starting with our surgery" with that she made her way out. Before that, she put on her cloak and kissed the sleeping child with a hint of a sad smile on her lips just for a second._

_She was closing the door when she turned her hooded head back, "remember, not a word of this to anyone". And then Freya exited the room leaving a very frightened Spinoza behind who got to work immediately._

'A twelve year old?'

'Yes dreck, now shut the hell up!'

"Wait!" Anise said immediately as soon as Spinoza was finished, "Are you telling me that it was a young girl, a TWELVE year old?"

"And she performed the transplant?" Anya whispered in awe.

"Yes" Spinoza answered.

Natalia frowned, "It seems almost-"

"-unbelievable" Asch ended. "Look, this isn't what we came to hear. You're just wasting our time. Now tell us what Van's planning to-" before he could finish however, Spinoza took off toward the exit so unexpectedly that no one had time to stop him and by the time they had followed him outside, he had vanished off somewhere.

"Well" Guy asked, "So that leaves us with what?"

"There's a place called Ortion Cavern" Asch started, "I suspect we might find something there".

"Yes, it's the best choice we have" Jade spoke up for the first time.

"So you're the creator of fomicry, Jade?" Ion asked the Colonel with an impressed glint in his eye.

Jade sighed rubbing his forehead, "Yes. But it's a part of my past I'm not very proud of and wish I could erase".

"Yeah well, whatever you do I'm not going with you" Guy said in a decisive tone surprising everyone except Asch, "I have to see if Luke's okay".

"That idiot?" Anise exclaimed, "Why would you care about him? Your true master 'Luke' is right here then why?"

"That's because my best friend is that 'idiot' and not the duke's son" Guy shot back at Anise.

Asch realized that Guy was serious and told him the direction to a place called Aramis Spring where he could go back to Yulia City and Guy separated from the rest of the group.

"Well, that's one ally less" Jade merely said, "We'll have to try harder now". The group then made their way to the Tartarus to depart for Ortion Cavern.

Once everyone was settled in the ship, Jade excused himself from the others and went to the deck for some 'alone' time.

"Freya? I wonder…."

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The group trudged through Ortion Cavern and realized just how right Jade had been. Thankfully, Anise had insisted on leave Ion in the Tartarus. Once they reached a part that looked like a large cave, they knew they had come to the right place for some sort of answers. The area was silent except the dripping of water from the ceiling and the gentle hum of the large fon machines. They began examining the papers in disarray on a table while Jade and Asch started with the large computer-like machine. There wasn't anything much in the papers except something about a seventh replica and the mention of Daath.

"Seven replicas?" Natalia exclaimed.

"Holy shit!" they heard Asch swear and turned to the machine he was examining.

"The data of the last recorded object is some million square kilometers" Jade frowned slightly, "Where would they place such a thing?"

"What can be so large?" Natalia asked.

"By the sound of it, a land maybe an island" Anya observed.

"Well, whatever it is we don't have anything else to do here and I can do the rest by myself so I'll just drop you all off at Daath" Asch announced in a decisive tone.

'Dreck, I'm leaving you to your lazy days. Don't try disturbing me or else-'

'You can't do anything to me from there'

'Just watch Replica' with that Asch closed the connection with as much force as he could muster and smirked.

Luke and Tear were now getting very much exhausted from all the fighting. If only they had another helper….

They arrived in a slightly flooded area where they got drenched up to the ankles and Luke hadn't had a single complaint. Instead he had carried the scared Mieu over his shoulders so that the cheagle wouldn't drown. But a few steps forward and…

"Guy?" Luke almost shouted out in relief then apprehension and many countless emotions at seeing his best friend.

"Well" Guy started getting up from a high placed rock where he had been sitting cross legged, "I thought you'd want to come back so I waited here for you".

"You're god send you know?" Luke said slowly watching Guy coming closer.

"Ha-ha" he laughed good naturedly, "Hey! You cut your hair? Suits you better".

Luke blushed slightly at the compliment. He still found it hard to accept them.

"Thanks Guy". At this, Guy's eyes widened till they wouldn't anymore without his eyeballs popping out.

"L-luke s-said 'thank you'?" he stammered as though it was the biggest shock of his life.

"I know" Tear sighed, "Kind of starling the first time you hear it". Luke shook his head wondering if he had been that different before.

With Guy among them, the journey to the end of the spring didn't take that long. He filled the duo on what had happened and having another swordsman really helped.

As they reached the exit, the trio (not counting Mieu who was sleeping in Tear's bag) was met by Anya and Jade.

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They dropped off Anise, Ion and Natalia at Daath and Asch decided to leave the Tartarus at Daath bay which had surprised the others. Natalia was positive that Asch was on their side and helping them but Jade had dampened her spirits saying that Asch merely didn't want to use a Malkuth ship. Jade had then announced that he should meet up with Guy and update them about the current situation and Anya had agreed to accompany him.

"So, you seemed to be a little surprised when you found out that I wasn't just Jade Curtiss" Jade started in his usual politely teasing tone. Anya blushed slightly.

"Well, you said you didn't want to talk about it so I left the subject as it was" she told him shrugging.

"That's alright. So how would you happen to know about my other identity that I discarded long ago?" he couldn't help but ask. She had never lived outside Midgard and here she was, knowing things that a lot of people didn't.

"I read your book on fomicry" she replied, "well, the first volume to be precise. You never completed the rest of it" she said in a slightly accusing tone.

"Really?" Jade was a little taken aback, "My books weren't sold much in public and definitely not anywhere outside Malkuth".

"Actually, it was the Emperor who gifted it to me" she told him. At this Jade turned to her, "You're acquainted with the Emperor?"

"Well, it was two to three years back. I came here with Grandpa for a little tour so…" she didn't tell him that Grandpa had to force her to accompany him on a special task.

"I see" was all he said and the silence resumed. Just as soon as they were done fighting a set of monsters that didn't take long because they both made an extremely good team, Anya suddenly cried out and held Jade's arm for support.

The pain was blinding and she grit her teeth as the ache in her shoulder blades and spine was slowly reaching her head. She thought she was going to faint. Oh how she wished she did but just then it was over and Jade gave her a questioning look.

"Don't ask" she said shakily, "I don't know what's happening to me and I don't want to jump to conclusions now. Just forget about it okay?" with that she winced slightly and hurried away again. Jade stood where he was, thinking the symptoms over. If what he thought was correct…but he didn't see how it was possible.

Anya turned around from a few feet away, "Are you going to stand there all day long? We have to find Guy".

Jade strode to join her, "It's taking so long, I think it's a better idea to just wait here and let you youngsters-"

"Jade, don't even finish that if you don't want your old bones broken" she cut in making him grin devilishly.

"I'm not so sure breaking my bones would be a task so easy for someone so small." Jade commented and Anya turned a disbelieved stare.

"If i'm small, then you're blind." she told him and then muttered, "Arrogant" under her breath.

"What was that?" Jade asked in a mockingly serious tone and Anya smiled back sweetly.

"Never mind me-Luke!" Anya saw the shock of red in the distance while Jade looked at it with disgust. ANya smiled politely trying not showing just how glad she really was to see the red head. He looked different somehow and that's when she noticed the hair, "Whoa!You cut your hair?"

"Yeah" Luke said politely, "So what's new?"

"Anise, Ion and Natalia are off in Daath. Asch is now working by himself" Jade told them arriving, "Well Guy, we thought we'd find you here and oh Tear's here too".

Realizing what Jade was doing, Luke brushed it off, "So what do we do now?".

"Oh! You're here as well?" Jade said pretending to be seeing him for the first time, "Oh by the way, I've got some depressing news for you all".

"Kimlasca's announced for a war on Malkuth" Anya told them grimly.

**I wasn't particularly satisfied with this chapter; I mean there wasn't anything much but there are some important things here and well I have to focus on Luke Tear now slightly, cuz I didn't do that such a long wait I know some of you expected something better but don't worry, next chapter's gonna be better I would be Freya is actually someone form the game but i'll say it later.**


	10. Kidnap,curses and sorcery

**I wanted to update fast so I wrote a short chapter. Actually I was going to include a lot of things together but then I decided to split the chapter into two cuz it was gonna get real , hopefully.**

Chapter ten

"What? Why?" Luke almost shouted and Jade frowned at his outburst and decided to remain quiet.

"The king and well everyone else thinks that the Akzeriuth was just a scheme to kill off Princess Natalia and the duke's son" Anya explained when Jade didn't oblige.

"Well, so we have to talk to uncle" Luke spoke up, "No, the King" he said slowly.

"Luke" Guy started, "The king _is_ your uncle and don't start with the replica issue" with that he walked off before Luke could argue.

"I don't think anything is possible until we have a neutral ambassador" Tear said thoughtfully, "So we take Ion along with us and Natalia of course".

"Where are those two and Anise?" Luke asked looking around and observing their absence for the first time.

"Daath" Anya replied.

"That's south east of here" Jade informed them, "Shall we get going? I hope you won't slow us down" he added to Luke.

Luke nodded, maintaining a somber demeanor and began leading the way after a reassuring smile from Anya which lightened his mood, although he didn't show it.

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He was frenzied. How dare they? How the bloody hell did those bastard mortals do this to her? His beloved, his queen who was now unconsciously lying on a luxurious bed draped with expensive silk ivory sheets. Her platinum blond hair, a shade which was usually bestowed on children and darkened with the years not when it came to her though, fell over her left eye. He removed it gently and the woman made a slight movement at his touch. He smiled and kissed her forehead affectionately. When would he get to drink the ray of light in those crimson eyes again? Oh how he loved this woman, there was no other and would never be. Even that stupid young girl…what an imbecile to have fallen for his impeccable scheme. He would give his jewel, his precious every Godly luxury he could achieve, once he had the control over these damned Score-devoted mortals that was. And he had to do something about retrieving fonons and the terrifying powers for his woman. They would be equal, they would be the only ones and no one would dare ever to cheat any of them.

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Freya McClain was agitated. So the old man had broken his word? Well, thankfully she hadn't told him everything he had wanted to know. She loved the way she could be frightening to some pathetic doctor. He had been astonished at her speed, skill and accuracy of her transplant performance once she had snatched away the equipment when she saw how slow Spinoza had been, surely he had never done this sort of work before and he called himself Doctor.

She, on the other hand had watched her father, a well known heart surgeon in all of Keterburg. He had gone so far as to teach her everything so that by the age of twelve she could almost be as qualified as him. Oh, she was a smart girl and her father prided on her, that was until the rumors had begun once again and her treacherous-wife's heart breaking-murderous father had disowned her forever. He wouldn't have anything to do with her and all those years of father-daughter relationship had melted away. The only time he acknowledged her existence was when he was drunk and beat her mother and herself just to take out his frustration when the mob arrived at their door. He was the reason Freya had been forced to make the choice between dying in his hands and running away. She had chosen the latter and taken her sister along with her. She would return to save her mother from the clutches of that man later…someday.

But focusing on the matter at hand...Jade Curtiss knew. Knew that she had broken the ban and was intent on arresting her. She had heard enough about him to know that he would be on to her like a hawk. Oh well, he seemed busy at the moment and he didn't have a clue to start with…he would never find her if she didn't show herself first.

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"ION!" Anise's panicked shout reached the green haired boy's ears but he was already being hauled away by the Oracle Knights. Beside him, Natalia was struggling against the hard metal of the soldiers' uniform and only ended up hurting herself and she gave up.

They both were shoved into an empty room which comprised of polished furniture, posh violently violet carpeting, a mahogany bed and a shelf of books. The room had an air of richness about it and it seemed as though someone lived here. There were a few broken iron parts here and there, probably some fon machines.

"So who do you think stays up here?" Natalia broke the silence.

"If I'm not mistaken, this maybe the room of one of the God-General's" Ion informed her.

"Oh! I see" Natalia replied, "And this just proves it", she grinned picking up a purple diary with scribbling in magenta and a hot pink rose on the cover.

"Dist" was all Ion managed to say before the two went into fits of laughter.

"This must be his revenge journal" Natalia said after regaining her control.

"I wonder what's in here." Ion mused out eyeing the diary.

"Well, I just hope the others are in time to rescue us", Natalia said seriously. She had her bow but the string had come loose and she needed Guy to fix it up for her.

"Till then we have nothing to do" Ion observed and then smirked, "So why not see the contents of a certain object here?" With that, the two began reading the journal.

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Anise sprinted out the Cathedral doors and collided hard into someone and fell on her bump. Stars hovered above the Fon master guardian's head and she felt a gentle hand helping her up. She straightened up to hear Asch's voice but it sounded different…

"You alright?" Luke asked the brunette. Anise looked up at him and nodded then realized that this wasn't Asch and her eyes widened in surprise then shock and finally ended with a scowl.

"What is the brat doing here?" she asked everyone except Luke.

"Anise", Anya interrupted before the young girl could say anything else, "where's Ion and Natalia?"

Anise stopped glaring at Luke which he pointedly ignored, "When we got back to Daath, some Oracle soldiers suddenly arrived saying that Mohs had ordered them to take Ion. They lied saying that Maestro Trithiem had sent word for me and I left the two of them alone. When I came back in, it looked as though there had been slight struggle and Ion and Natalia were gone". She told them everything hurriedly in a panicky voice.

"So they were kidnapped?" Luke asked.

"It would seem so", Jade answered grimly, "Mohs had wanted to start a war between Kimlasca and Malkuth to fulfill the Score".

"And now that everyone thinks Natalia and I are dead, this is a perfect opportunity for him", Luke said fiercely, "Damn it!"

"Ahh, what do we do now?" Anise whined.

"Save them, it's our only option" Tear announced.

They went inside the cathedral and Anise guessed that those two might have been taken to the Oracle Headquarters. They needed permission for entrance so Tear lied to Maestro Trithiem about needing to report to Mohs about the seventh Fonstone mission and being accompanied by the rest as witnesses. The man said it would take some time so Anya suggested checking out the Library. When Luke had been about to argue, Anya went into a full cute mode and went on pleading in a baby voice until everyone agreed with Anya skipping in the lead. Yes, she _loves _books and I mean a lot but no, she isn't nerdy.

"There's a book on Sephiroths", Luke said in an awed voice and _actually_ began reading it.

Meanwhile, Jade was just rifling through countless books as though he had read every one of them and didn't find anything to his interest. Anya had found a hard bound, frayed and old book with the title 'The mystifying peril of Sorcery'. Old books had always given her a certain tingling feeling and the title she read now was all the more inciting so she immediately buried herself in the book. It was sometime before the silence was broken by a gasp from Anya. Everyone looked up and Tear bent down to read the title.

"What's wrong?" Guy asked her noticing a disturbed look.

"It says that people born on the Gnome day of Shadow Redecan were thought to be born of sorceresses" she explained, "And if it was the seventh of that month, then they presumed them to be definitely the supernatural".

"And if that is so" Tear continued once she was reading along from behind Anya, "Then the babies were-" she backed away, revulsion clear in her features.

"Crucified and burnt", Jade stated in a casual tone and Luke looked up at him annoyed, "Sorcery was and still is thought to be a major root of evil. Apparently Sorcery never did anyone any good and people who were power hungry would go to any length to achieve the powers".

"People, usually villagers believe that crucifixion helped to rid the person of all satanic qualities in them. Burning the body made sure that the soul would be reborn in some better and normal human", Anya explained in a quiet tone.

"Wait!" Anise said before anyone else could speak again, "How can you _achieve_ someone's powers? They are inside the people".

"Powers like that can be transferred into a human known as vessel; of course not just any one can do that. It takes the power of another Sorcerer or a very skilled fonist, although the latter would probably face instantaneous death after the process because of the strength it requires" Jade explained with slight annoyance. He hated explaining things but was satisfied with the attention everyone was giving now.

"But-but every one of them can't be evil. There's always exception" Anya reasoned and looked down at the book, "Murdering children…"

"Actually" Guy started slowly remembering the stories his mother used to tell him and Mary, "They say that the most powerful Sorceress Laverna was normally just like anyone else, harmless and just there. But then she gave birth to a daughter who was also like herself because both her parents were magical. Genevieve was the daughter's name and when she grew up…well, she fell in love with a normal human. This infuriated Laverna and when she refused to accept their relationship Genevieve ran away. Laverna found out about this and killed her. But once she got over her rage, she felt repentant and went traumatized. That's when she killed the entire family of Genevieve's lover accusing them for her own loss. And to prevent anything like this in future she set a curse on all magical beings".

"A curse?" Anise whispered with wide eyes. For the moment it seemed that she had forgotten about Ion.

Guy continued, "A curse that doesn't allow any magical beings to mate with a normal human and have a healthy child. Well, not always; very few of them were lucky and continued the line of Sorcery".

"So you mean that the babies born were usually still born?" Anya asked him and he nodded.

"So is it not possible for anyone of magical birth to be alive?" Tear asked Jade.

He thought for a few seconds before answering, "Sorcery was practiced more than three hundred years ago but with the death toll increasing, the number of magical beings reduced and it is thought that they have gone extinct. Everything about Sorcery is vague because it's mainly assumptions".

"But can't one or two of them still be alive? I mean how would people know about their powers if they kept it hidden?" Luke asked.

"They can't keep their powers hidden. It's supposed to show up by the age of sixteen and if it does…well", Anya started and then left her sentence hanging. Jade gave her a skeptical look.

"How do you know that?" he asked her with interest.

"A-a friend told me about it" she lied casually. It was true alright, but she would never ever tell them that Lezard was the source of that information and was actually a sorcerer, probably one of the last ones…

Jade sighed and traced the cover of the book which was now on the table. The cover that might have once been an off white color was now tanned with the picture of a beautiful woman, her ankle length purple black hair swirling around her, "They are rather fascinating creatures aren't they?"

"Totally" Anya agreed, "Rarity just intrigues us all the more…"

An attendant came inside and informed them that Maestro Trithiem was waiting for them in the chapel with the entry papers. They immediately arranged everything like before and trudged out to rescue the 'two' princesses as Anise put it.

They entered the dimly lit area and tensed at the vast maze like scene before them. There were many doors and just to make sure they would have to check each and everyone of the rooms. Anise was explaining how high ranking members like herself and above were allowed provision here in the headquarters. This place was also the secret training area for Oracle knights. When she was done, Luke thanked her and she almost lost her footing while going downstairs. Jade grabbed hold of her arm as though she weighed zilch and steadied her.

"L-luke said thank you?" she stammered, her eyes wide like Guy's had been. Luke scowled and asked where to start from.

They went in through lots of huge doors and ended up in another maze like area with more doors(Ugh, I can't believe how much they had to run around). Finally after almost two hours when everyone had almost started panicking and giving up, they reached a long corridor (yay, not thousands of doors to check anymore, just six of them). But damn the Oracle knights, they were guarding outside the gates so of course our friends had to get in a fight. After that…they checked out the rooms and were sure their captive companions were inside.

They hesitated slightly before Luke took the courage to open the heavy door, not sure of the sight that might be greeting them. Horrible images of those two being chained up or crucified and…no, nothing would be wrong with them.

They weren't ready for the sight in front of them and Guy's jaw dropped open. Ion and Natalia were on the floor, laughing their heads off.

"And look here" Natalia managed in between peals of laughter, not even noticing that their friends had entered.

Ion took the diary in his hand and grinned, "'Asch and Sync stole the hover drive and kept it in my secret compartment of my chair. It was so hell embarrassing when I had to look all over Mt. Roneal' I can't believe he actually did that", Ion commented.

"What in the world?" Anise whispered and the two turned around to see them. Ion's face lit up at their sight and hurriedly got up. Natalia looked slightly uncomfortable at having been so childish and immature; she got up in a dignified manner and straightened her dress.

"Well, you two certainly looked like you were actually enjoying your time", Jade commented.

"We found Dist's Revenge Journal" Ion told him and then his face went serious, "Mohs ordered the Oracle Knights to do this".

"We know that" Luke told him and Natalia saw him for the first time not knowing if she was glad or just….she was confused.

"It's better we get out of here before anyone notices the bodies of guards on the way", Jade stated and everyone agreed. They dashed off as fast as they could through the mess they had made and were thankful when they reached the entrance of the Cathedral and finally onto the field without any interruptions but were sure they heard some shouts from within the Cathedral.

Once they reached Daath bay, Jade informed them that Asch had left the Tartarus. Natalia wanted to go back to Baticul as fast as possible to put a stop to the war but then Jade reminded her that Mohs had the king's ear. Luke had then come up with the idea of petitioning help from His Imperial Majesty Emperor Peony the ninth. Jade had agreed to that saying it was better than nothing and that Peony would surely understand the need to evacuate St. Binah citizens. So they headed for Grand Chokmah.

**One more chapter done! Shorter than my previous one but that's how it has to be. How's the sorcery idea? Reviews would be nice. Stay tuned for the next chapter…something's about to come up!**

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	11. Guy and Freya, Anya's betrayal

**Like before, Jade's 33 here.**

Chapter eleven

Everyone onboard the Tartarus were silent since there was nothing much to talk about and because everyone except Natalia, Luke and Ion were maneuvering the ship. Jade had literally made them do that as the more number of people would help getting to Grand Chokmah faster but left out Luke because he still didn't trust him to do anything much. Then Anise said that she was tired and Luke took her place without asking Jade's permission, something that had annoyed the owner (Jade) of the ship. Anise then started filling those two on what they had read in the library. Natalia gasped and made all the required expressions at the right places, something Anise was totally enjoying being under the attention from both _her_ Ion and the princess.

Suddenly the bloody ship jerked violently and with a sizzling noise the lights went out and the Tartarus came to a stop.

"W-what happened?" Natalia asked looking around. Jade said that Chesedonia hadn't had the best of mechanics and they hadn't remained for enough time to actually get the ship repaired. Guy went along with the Colonel to fix the problem obviously and when they returned, the lights had come on again. But Guy informed them that the repair was temporary so they would have to head for the closest port which Jade said was Keterburg Bay. The Tartarus then had to be operated much slowly to prevent any over pressure on the blasted vessel so they would be reaching Keterburg by sunset.

Once they reached the port, a few crew of Malkuth ships were surprised at the sudden appearance of Jade because everyone thought he had been dead. Jade told him to keep that a secret and declined the crew's help for finding out their way in the city, informing them that he had been born here.

As they made their way through the city through the ankle deep snow, Tear and Natalia couldn't help but gush on about how romantic this place was with the silvery moonlight on the snow. Jade was on the lead and every now and then answered their questions as to what each building was growing a little impatient each time. But a major distraction arrived when Jade had pointed out the Casino to them. Within a second Anise had taken off and Anya after her. Jade sighed and they all followed. The inside was a large and brightly lit area consisting of one room with all the games and a small bar. Loud music was being played from somewhere at the back accompanied by loud cheers and boos from the crowd who were watching someone play Nephry ball and the other games. Natalia shifted uncomfortably complaining about the gaudiness getting to her. The only one who looked positively elated was Anise; no doubt it had a rich atmosphere to attract her.

After many complaints from Anise and explaining that they were going late to save St. Binah did the group make their way to whatever place Jade was taking them again. But on the way, they stopped dead in their tracks because someone from somewhere close by was heard singing Yulia's grand fonic hymn as Tear recognized. This was something to interest not only Tear but also Jade so they looked for the source of the song. It seemed as though the woman sang the hymn only as a song but not a weapon.

Anya didn't know what it was but the voice seemed to call her, it seemed sad in a way and somehow broke her heart. They rounded a corner and saw a woman sitting on a porch in a woolen dress. Her jet black long hair fell past her waist and was piled around on the ground as she sang in a hauntingly beautiful voice. Tear approached her slowly wondering who she was. There was a certain familiarity about the woman that none of them could quite place. She turned around to face them and fixed the group with a questioning look.

Tear took a deep breath and then started, "We are sorry to bother you but you were singing one of Yulia's fonic hymns and I was wondering where you learnt them from" she ended hoping she hadn't gone too fast on the woman. Her curiosity was getting the best of her after all, how would a normal citizen know about those hymns?

She looked around at them and then turned to look at a small snowy fenced garden in front of her, no doubt her own. She didn't look to be over forty but the lines of stress and slight age said otherwise.

"My daughter used to sing them" she told them in a soft slow voice, "As a child. We were originally from Hod" at this Tear gasped and Luke understood why.

"Freya, my daughter had a friend by the name of Vandelesca who would often sing some hymns to her. She learned them and would at times sing when she was all alone, you see, my daughter didn't have any friends. There were always rumors about her being a sorceress". They all gaped at the woman at this last bit of news.

"And is it true?" Jade asked her softly, "that Freya was one of magical birth?"

She looked up at him and laughed scornfully, "So what if she is? What will you do _Colonel_ Jade Curtiss? Arrest her for being born that way? Escort her holding that head of yours high for her execution?" the woman had stood up and was now shouting fervently at Jade. When she was done she huffed slightly but still fixed Jade with a livid gaze. He merely looked back at her and realized that it was probably the parental love on her part but how did she know who he was?

"Madam, my apologies" he told her, "I had no such intention but when you say your daughter, do you mean you are Mrs. McClain?" he asked her with interest clear in his eyes.

"Yes" she answered and Guy had a faraway look as though he remembered something. If this was _that_ Mrs. McClain then her daughter was _that_ Freya McClain, no doubt his once upon a time playmate, his sister's favorite little girl and Van's friend. He could still remember the last time he had met her…

_The five year old boy sat in the darkening sky, alone in his little garden prying open a small toy his pal Freya had gifted him recently. She wouldn't be pleased by this behavior at all but little Guy enjoyed tinkering around with fon machines. His maid Karana was running around the entire mansion looking for him and he smirked at the maid's distress. She finally spotted him and forced him back inside the house. Once he reached his room he saw a small girl, her shoulder length raven waves framing a pale face now adorned with a scowl. He didn't know what about those features Van found attractive but again, he had told Guy that the five year old boy was still too young to understand and he loved his friend the way she was(no dirty thoughts there please). _

"_I can't believe you Gilardia" she told him after a hurt look at the broken toy in his hands, "That was my last gift to you from me and you wrecked it"._

"_Wrecked it?" Guy asked her, "And what do you mean last gift?"_

_She sighed and Van came inside. Her face lit up at his surprise arrival, that boy doted on her completely and though she wouldn't admit it to anyone but herself, she liked it. The twelve year old boy greeted the six year old girl with a peck on the cheek._

"_Well?" Guy asked impatiently, "what did you mean-"_

"_Freya's going to leave Hod", Van told him and she nodded._

"_B-but why?" Guy stammered. This couldn't be, she was his only friend who would hang out with him all day and let him rant about any new book he had read especially since his mother and Mary had other things to do than babysit a six year old. Van was just too busy; he was already a member of the Oracle Knights and had much to take care of what with a pregnant mother._

"_Van says that we are in danger, me and mama" Freya told him. Guy looked at Van who told him that he had overheard some of the Oracle knights discussing something about executing Freya and her mother under orders of some duke…_

"_I don't understand. Why can't we hide you?" Guy asked, "Why don't you stay here? My mansion's really really big" he told her spreading his arms to emphasize his point. She shook her head saying that mother had said it was too dangerous to linger anywhere near now so they would be moving away tonight by midnight so they would remain hidden._

_The three then started on a game of hide-and-seek. Guy was 'it' and the other two went to hide. Van would always be the toughest to find so he went off to look for him at the beginning, sure that Freya would come out impatient because it was taking him so long and together they would find their big friend._

_Almost fifteen minutes were over but Freya still hadn't come out and he frowned. What was taking her so long today, and then he saw Van coming towards him. He beamed at him and sauntered over to him._

"_So you gave up…what's wrong?" he asked when he realized that Van looked upset, Van being upset wasn't a nice thing._

"_Freya…left" was all he said before he turned away and went home. Guy stared at his friend's back, his words still not registering, 'w-what?" he dashed back to his room, hoping Freya was still there. She wouldn't leave without a good bye._

_Karana stood beside a weeping Mary who brushed by Guy at his arrival and was gone to her room. He approached his bed and saw a small wrapped up box. His hands trembling, he picked up the box which had a note attached to it._

_Dear Guy,_

_I'm sorry I won't be able to see you, mother just arived and says that we must go immedately. I was kidding when I said that was my last gift, please keep this last memory safe. I will miss you._

_Love, Freya._

_Guy read it and tore open the wrapping paper to reveal a small polished cubic box. Inside was some tools used for fixing fon machines and such, it was a tool box._

_She had known how much he would love this but the anguish in the little boy's heart made him cry himself to sleep._

_Next day his mother informed him that the McClain's house had been burnt down last night but no bodies were found so that was a good sign because it meant that they had escaped and were alive. Guy could only hope for the best and berated himself for thinking so selfishly the previous night._

"How would you happen to know me?" Jade was asking when Guy had pulled himself out of his own world.

"Who wouldn't know you?" the woman scoffed, "Your Malkuth uniform and fonic sight are enough to prove that". The woman was very observant.

"Do you know that your daughter has broken the law?" Jade asked her coolly, "If you have any information about her whereabouts then I-"

"How do you expect me to know that?" she interrupted, "I don't know where she is nor have we been in contact for years".

"Why would that be?" Anya asked her. If the woman seemed to love her daughter so much then why shouldn't she care?

"She ran away, that's why" Mrs. McClain answered, "eight years ago and I say it was the best and the most sensible thing she probably ever did".

Natalia looked at her in disbelief, "Why? That's a horrible thing to say and you being a mother should be a little more careful about your daughter's conducts".

"Oh is that so?" the older woman turned to her, "would you say that if _your_ daughter was being charged with every crime that occurred around here with no ground proof just because she's a sorceress? Would you say that if your daughter had to face her father's aggravation every living minute of her life when all she ever did was nothing? She was an innocent child like any other and just because of what she was born to be-" her voice cracked under the strain and Natalia was so overcome by guilt, she couldn't even apologize for the wound she had inflicted on a mother's heart by her words.

Mrs. McClain composed herself and went on again, "Do you know what? The people, not even after nine months of staying started jumping to conclusion about Freya. They compared her to Jade Balfour and said that she was probably the only villain ever seen in Keterburg to equal that boy, the only one who could break the Necromancer's record of wrong doings. Yes, they used those words to describe my daughter" she stopped for a second and Jade took the opportunity.

"From what I heard, it wasn't until nine years ago that you arrived in Keterburg. So you'd been-" again the damned woman interrupted.

"We had moved away to Engeve from Hod. But something dreadful happened that year. Engeve went flooded with rain which doesn't usually happen and the food sources became a problem for months. Not only that, but monsters from the Cheagle woods were suddenly appearing around that area. That's when Emperor Peony the Eighth helped wipe out those monsters and things settled once again although it took some time. But rumors started up and I didn't want my husband finding out about our magic. You see, he had no idea about it and he loathed magic. When rumors went to a full-scale hostility then we heard that Kimlasca's king had ordered for the people of Engeve to be checked for anything suspicious".

"Everyone in Engeve was being checked out by specially ordered doctors. They can detect whether a person is magical by birth through the fonons within their body. We knew it was time to move away somewhere again. Because Engeve was a village, the people are naturally much more superstitious about everything so I thought it would be best to move away to someplace more urban".

Natalia had shining tears in her eyes now and Tear had on her cool façade just like Jade. Anya didn't think she wanted to hear anymore and looked away but the old woman continued. Anise wondered if her bottled up feelings were killing her that badly. Poor lady…

"My daughter had a soft spot for animals, tame and small ones" she said with a smile, "She would often visit the area around Mt. Roneal and bring in one or two of them. But unfortunately they wouldn't survive and she would bury them at midnight. She had odd preferences and that's when the people jumped to conclusions _again _and she became known to be killing for joy". Mrs. McClain looked exhausted with all the talking and fell to her knees. Jade, surprisingly was the one to help her sit up and he apologized once again for the trouble they had caused her.

"So that makes you a sorceress too" Jade stated.

She nodded, "Yes, I was born one but someone conducted some experiment on me and I've lost my powers since then. I've been told I don't have much time, maybe a few years at the most".

"Who would that someone be, if you can remember anything at all?"

She scrunched up her face in concentration, "Skinny, white haired and….yes, he was sitting on a flying chair". There was no need for any more information.

"Please" she whispered to him, "If you see her, whatever the case, don't just arrest her without a reason. I'm sure she had her reasons for doing what she did".

He asked her one last question, "What of you other daughter?"

The woman looked surprised but answered anyway, "My other daughter was born with a frail heart. I doubt she's still alive. If she is, then it's miraculous. Freya took her away with herself. Lorelei protect them" she whispered looking up at the sky.

He looked down at her and nodded before making his way towards the Governess's house once again with everyone in the rear.

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The group was still silent from their recent encounter with Mrs. McClain. Jade pressed the calling bell of a large manor and the door was opened by a pretty young maid who took one look at Jade and didn't linger a second more than she had to. Her costume came as a distraction as Tear who was very much into cute things went head over heels for the costume. The maid came back in and informed them that her Madam was ready to see them.

As soon as the group entered, they saw a golden haired young woman in glasses, her face hidden behind her hand shaking her head muttering something. Jade looked slightly amused and spoke in a gentle, kind tone which was quite unheard of.

"Nephry" he called, "what is it? I was hoping for a much warmer greeting".

The woman called Nephry peeked from between her fingers and then stood up so suddenly, her chair fell backwards but they could see tears in her eyes.

"Oh Jade!" she managed in a teary voice with a smile, "I can't believe it. My brother's alive".

The effect produced by those words was rather like watching a movie. Every one of their eyes widened in unison and the two boys' jaws dropped open. They froze in their spots and their looks were pointed directly on Jade who was standing a few feet ahead of them.

"Br-rother?" Luke stammered out, "Seriously?". Jade rolled his eyes; he didn't see why it was so shocking.

"It's been a while" Jade spoke to Nephry again, "Since your wedding I presume".

Nephry nodded and told him that news had been that Jade had perished with Akzeriuth but apparently, only Emperor Peony had still believed him to be alive.

"'Jade Curtiss possibly couldn't die in a collapse' he said" Nephry told him, "'it just isn't his style', can you believe him brother? It's as though you aren't even human" she huffed at the Emperor's attitude and Jade responded with an amused laugh.

"Well, Nephry" Jade started, "Actually, I need the Tartarus to be repaired".

"Everything will be ready" Nephry told him, "Leave it to me. But you must stay here till tomorrow morning. I'll book rooms for you at the Hotel". Anise's eyes lit up at that, Keterburg hotel was known for its great service and it had a spa.

When everyone was turning to go outside, Nephry stopped Luke and asked him to come visit her alone later. The group reached the hotel and the manager greeted them, a little flirtatiously to the women which of course no one except Anya returned. He gave them their keys and Luke tried to think up of a way to escape.

"Uh-I-um forgot something back at the governess's house" he told them in a slightly uncomfortable tone, "I'll just go get it" with that he turned away when Guy said he would accompany him.

"Why?" Luke asked him, "She's a woman".

"I like looking at woman" Guy protested.

"Guy is most certainly… a guy" Natalia said when she didn't find any words to describe him.

"Well, she is a beautiful woman" he reasoned gaining a raised eyebrow from Jade.

"Guy!" Tear chided him, "Do think before you talk".

"Yeah" Anise said slyly, "She's married you know?"

"Not to mention that her brother happens to be present here, well armed I must add" Anya added to their words. Ion watched with a smile. Thank God they had gotten over their depressing encounter.

"H-hey!" Guy objected, "That's not what I meant" and the girls broke in to giggles.

"Argh! I'll just go get it myself alright?" Luke announced and dashed away before anyone could say anything again.

Mieu stared at his back with his large eyes and hopped away after him. He was so small; no one noticed his departure except Anya who wondered what the red head was up to.

She looked around and then with a defeated sigh followed the rest of them up the elevator. Once she was inside her room, her mind was at work for a way to get out and she eyed the window. Two minutes later, Anya had found him and was following the very visible red hair.

Outside the door to Nephry's office, Anya caught the blue cheagle before it could enter and shush-ed it so they could both listen in.

"As a child" Nephry began, "My brother was a devil. He would kill harmless monsters for his experiments and for his own satisfaction of being the most skilled and different than the rest of us".

"But he doesn't seem that way" Luke told her.

"It was professor Nebilim who changed him" she replied, "She was a seventh fonist and Jade admired her for that. He was nine years at the time and created fomicry then. She taught us at school, Nebilim that is. But like all other times, my brother wanted to try everything till his breaking point and tried to cast an arte that uses seventh fonons. His powers went out of control and caused Professor Nebilim's residence to catch fire. In the event she passed away but before that, Jade extracted her data. My brother is intent on resurrecting her but I want you to keep watch on him for me. Please". When she finished Luke nodded. He was still awed at Jade's invention of fomicry at such a young age.

"Yes" Nephry replied, "My brother was genetically a genius and that's why the Curtiss family from Grand Chokmah adopted him and got him into the military".

Anya heard Luke's footsteps drawing near and tiptoed off toward the exit holding Mieu by one of his large ears.

When Luke reached the hotel, Jade was casually standing with a pamphlet in his hands and he decided to sneak off to his room when Jade called him.

"I presume Nephry's told you" the Colonel stated to which Luke denied in a high pitched tone.

"Oh well, if you say so" Jade replied, "But just so you know, I don't desire to resurrect Professor Nebilim anymore. Seeing you, I now know that replicas retain no memory of their original. My original purpose was to ask for forgiveness but there's no point".

"Hey, if I knew how to create replicas, I might have thought this to be the best way too" Luke told him.

Jade smiled slightly, "are you trying to cheer me up? Thanks for the sentiment but you miss the mark. But remember, no one must know about this. Do I have your word?" Luke nodded and headed upstairs.

Anya then came in, missing the encounter of the two men. Oblivious to Jade's presence she entered, her thoughts still too full with whatever she had heard. Poor Jade, he had killed his one most beloved person in an accident. He had been just nine; she wondered how he had gone through all that. Everything she had heard today; Mrs. McClain's story, Jade's past and that Freya….

"It's not a wise choice to eavesdrop" she distantly heard Jade's voice and turned around to see him looking at her.

"How did you know?" she asked him tiredly.

He shrugged, "I happen to know a lot of things. If you would respect my privacy, please don't let a word of it out".

"Of course" she said rolling her eyes and then softened her tone, "I'm sorry about Professor Nebilim", she told him and he nodded with a thank you. They headed for their stationed rooms.

0000000000000000000000000

Jade went away for some much needed rest but unfortunately his thoughts dwelled on someone…Mrs. McClain's daughter, Freya.

_23 year old Jade Curtiss had just visited his sister Nephry Balfour and ended up with one of their usual, uneventful reunions. He now took the long way towards Grand Chokmah which was through Mt. Roneal and to the entrance of Keterburg and onto the field. As he strode through the deep snow in the ultra dangerous areas of Mt. Roneal famous for its haunt of deadly monsters, he heard a faint noise that of someone singing. The wind was whistling loudly and he wondered if he had just imagined it. But as he advanced, he heard the song more distinctly and was positive that someone was nearby. Taking a keen interest, he walked towards the direction of the voice and spotted a dark silhouette. As soon as he approached it, he knew it was a girl but wasn't ready for what he saw when she turned her face towards him._

_The girl sat on the edge of an icy cliff, her bare legs dangling as though she was on a swing. She turned unblinking dark eyes at him and their gazes locked. There was a golden hue in her eyes but they seemed dimmed somehow by the dark features. Her face was pale, he didn't know if it was the cold or just her. A straight nose set on a small face that belonged to a girl nearing her teenage, but her most striking feature was the hair…the violet of it was darker than anything he had ever seen and it reached even below her waist ending in waves, a hairstyle that suited someone older much more than this little girl. _

_None of them knew why they were trying to outstare each other but a frown crossed her features and she stood up. He was surprised she actually didn't topple backwards with the weight of that mane of hair; really…she seemed odd in a way._

_The girl stood on her toes to get a good look at his face and he stared back right at her. She backed down, "Fonic sight" she whispered and then turned towards him again, "Jade the Necromancer?" He nodded._

"_And how would you happen to be familiar with that?" he asked this odd girl._

_She smiled, "I've heard about you. These Keterburg women are full of it. If you ask me though, I have actually wanted to meet you for some time now" she told him and this took him by surprise._

"_Me?" why on Auldrant would some strange girl be wanting to meet him of all the people?_

"_You're different" she told him and then turned away towards the empty sky, "The people of Keterburg or just about anywhere can't accept anything out of the ordinary. They blame people like you and me for everything. It's just good to know that you're not the only odd one out" she told him, voicing out her own thoughts. He mutely agreed. Somehow, this girl didn't seem so sinister anymore._

"_Why are you here?" he asked the question that had been there at the back of his mind all along._

_She looked at him again and pondered on this after taking out a twelve inch dagger from her bag, "This place has a certain allure about it" she said quietly running her finger across the blade, "It puts me at peace to be here. It's just me, there's no one to backbite or gossip or call me 'The She Terror'. There's no Daddy here" she added with an eerie smile that sent chills up his spine and it had nothing to do with the harsh wind._

"_Won't your parents be worried?" he asked her, wondering if she had parents and then noticed the mention of her father._

_She merely shrugged and said that she would just be good riddance. He pointed out that she would catch severe cold if she stayed out here anymore. She looked down at her feet which only had a pair of short socks and sneakers._

"_It's cold here" she stated and he wondered if the girl was ditzy._

"_I don't think you should be staying out here by yourself all alone" he told her, "I'll accompany you-"_

"_No" she interrupted, "I don't have anywhere to go back. If I did, it would only trouble Mama and daddy would..." she trailed off and silence engulfed them except the threatening sounds of the wind, "I wonder how sharp this thing is?" she spoke more to herself._

"_Smooth way of changing the subject" Jade said dryly and she looked up at him, studying him as though he was a mysterious portrait in a museum._

"_I'm lost" she told him in a dead voice and then suddenly slashed his hand with the knife. Blood began flowing profusely down to his fingers and onto the snow. For a moment she seemed awed at the blood on snow then turned her back to him and dashed away. Jade was caught by surprise and was a little late in following the small form. She had vanished off somewhere._

_It had become so late and he didn't want to suffer from a blood loss of all the things so he headed back towards Keterburg and spent the night at his manor. The next morning Nephry informed him that Freya McClain, a young girl otherwise known as 'The She Terror' had run away from home after a murder._

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The group woke up in the morning and Nephry was there to bid them farewell.

"Give the emperor my regards" she told Jade, "And please be careful brother".

Jade shrugged turned to the others, "You youngsters will have to shield me from the cold".

Unfortunately, the harbor to Grand Chokmah was closed for the war and they had to dock the Tartarus on Rotelro Bridge so that they could go by land.

"Theor Forest is a route to the Capital" Jade had explained, "But it's a dangerous place swarming with monsters". The group had just entered when two Malkuth Sentries arrived and informed them that they couldn't pass through. Jade asked for General Frings to come and escort them to the palace because they really required an audience with the Emperor.

However, as soon as they were gone, there were shouts of pain and they advanced towards the source of noise which were now unconscious Malkuth soldiers.

"Who would do such a thing?" Natalia asked and Tear healed them enough to allow them to live.

They group agreed to stay close to each other and very cautious now. Suddenly Guy threw an unexpected question at Anya.

"I heard that General Cecille was trained at Midgard at Goldpine Academy under special orders from the king. Is that so?" he asked.

She looked surprised, "Why y-yes. How did you know that?"

"Oh, things leak out alright" he replied.

"General Frings was also under training there for a year" Jade interjected, "Goldpine Academy is supposedly one of the best places for learning ,it's usually just the citizens of Midgard who are allowed but under special circumstances…" he added for Luke's benefit.

"So, why can't they just learn here?" he asked. Tear sighed.

"Luke haven't you ever heard about Instructor Loire?" Anise asked as though any one should have known. Luke shook his head and Guy plunged into an explanation.

"See, she's special" he started, "Usually, women aren't given the job of being the Instructor or any position in a military academy because they can't muster the different skills".

Natalia muttered something about sexism.

"So Instructor Demelza Loire is the first female to come to that rank" Anise continued, "In fact, they say she's probably the best any one ever knew".

"It's better when royal forces are taught by different skilled people" Tear told him, "It improves them".

Luke nodded in understanding and Jade turned towards Anya for a question that was bothering him. He knew that her last name was quite a common one but even then…

"Would you happen to be acquainted with Instructor Loire?" he asked, suddenly from beside Anya who was off in her own world with a frown on her face.

"Of course not. What makes you think so?" she snapped.

"Oh, nothing at all" he told her smoothly, "Something troubling you?"

"N-no" she lied, "I'm fine".

"You haven't been telling us a lot of things" he told her directly, "I don't like being kept in the dark".

"No one likes being kept in the dark Jade" she replied in a dry voice.

"You could always speak to any of us here, you know we're your friends" he told her very insincerely.

"Mind your own business will you?" she shot at him.

Jade had an amused smile now, "that sounds ironic coming from someone who eavesdrops on other's conversation" he told her and she scowled at him then shrugged it off.

"Oh well, I hope you know that I always end up knowing what I must in the end" he informed her arrogantly, "There really is no point in keeping secrets".

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips at these words, "Jade Curtiss, looks like this time you won't be so lucky. You're just a clueless, big-headed officer with an efficient choice of vocabulary. Talk all you want, you aren't getting anything much out of me" with that and a smirk at the Colonel's slightly offended face, she stalked off in the front alone_. Serves him right, well he didn't need to know anything just now_.

He was taken aback by this sudden display of attitude. There just was too much to assume about her and although Jade's presumptions usually ended up being correct, he couldn't confirm anything without consulting Anya.

Guy stole a glance towards Jade and Anya. They looked like they were arguing about something and then Anya went off alone. So, she was in one of her mood swings again.

"Hey Anya!" he called out to her and she turned, her expression vague as though she was concentrating on something.

She waited till he caught up to her and was then walking along with everyone else. _Looks like I've been the only one alone_.

Guy looked a little uncomfortable and she realized it must have been her attitude so she smiled and asked him what he wanted to talk about.

"Actually" he started, "I was wondering about your-um-you know, the sudden mood changes" she nodded and he continued, "A-are you…pregnant?" he blurted out making everyone stop in their tracks.

"WHAT?" Anya shouted, "Of all the things to say, why you little thing? It's nothing like that" she said weakly, now blushing.

"Are you sure?" he asked her and then mentally slapped himself.

She raised an eyebrow at him and Anise's sniggering could be heard in the background, "What are you implying Guy?" When he didn't answer she glared at him, "Do think before you talk" and she strode off to be alone once again.

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The group heard commotion this time and cries of pain as though some kind of fighting was taking place. They hurried towards the source and once again found the unconscious Malkuth soldiers on the ground.

"This is bad" Ion observed, "Who would do such a thing?"

"If you come with us, it won't be much of a problem" a deep, hoarse voice said and they turned to see Largo the Black Lion ready with his scythe.

"I don't think so" Luke told him and readied his own sword, "If you come in our way, we'll stop you".

Largo laughed at the replica's confidence, "You shouldn't be just keeping an eye on what's in front of you boy". Luke looked confused at his words and then felt a flurry of movement behind him. He turned not a second too soon just as his blade struck with Guy's. Everyone stared astonished.

"Guy?" Luke asked him disbelievingly but Guy didn't seem to hear in fact, he seemed hypnotized. His eyes droopy and lifeless, it was as though someone had animated a corpse and he struck again and again.

Tear suddenly looked up at a tree, "Natalia! Up there". Natalia whirled around and shot three arrows in a row at the tree and a small figure tumbled down, his hands protectively on his mask.

"Damn you!" Sync shouted and Guy fainted as the curse slot stopped controlling him.

The group now looked at the two God-Generals and they readied their weapons. Luke came up in the rear behind Anya who was right behind Jade. A pair of ten inches daggers was suddenly thrown at their feet from somewhere up and they turned to see Legretta the Quick standing on a crag with a satisfied smile.

"Major Legretta!" Tear exclaimed. The woman didn't look in her direction and laughed. It wouldn't do to warn that old man now.

Jade had his lance out and braced for battle. His attention was entirely focused on Legretta but his ears pricked up at a slight noise from behind. It all happened so quick, no one had time to grasp the turn of events as they saw one of Legretta's guns flying towards Jade.

One moment Jade was looking up the next, his spear was thrown out of his hand as a foot contacted with his fist, then an excruciating jab on his spine and he was thrown down on to the ground and he felt the cold metal of a gun pressed to his head. Legretta had intended for Anya to get her weapon.

The others gasped and Luke was about to strike her down, not believing that this was Anya who had come across all the way here.

"Stop!" she ordered in a quiet and cold voice, "If you try anything, I swear he's dead" she told them now wrapping an arm around Jade's neck so that her arm was pressed roughly against his throat. The Colonel could easily have tried overthrowing her, not really caring if it was Anya but the gun against his head prevented otherwise.

Anise and Natalia were now staring in shock at their companion who pulled Jade up by his head and Largo tied his hands. Anya had targeted the perfect one, the strongest ally. The others wouldn't dare do a thing to let any harm to him.

"So what do we do with them?" Sync asked, "Kill them and take the fon Master?"

"I don't think there's any need to kill these idiots" Anya told him, now spinning the gun with her index finger, "Let's take them to the base".

"But why-" Sync started.

"The replica must remain unharmed" Anya shouted at him, "Let's not kill the others just now, we might need them. These people are pretty much useless without their weapons" she told them with a smirk that earned a death glare from Anise.

Anya then turned to the others behind whose weapons were lying useless in their sides and ordered them to start following Largo who was directing the Colonel with the point of his Scythe and carrying Guy on his shoulder.

"Sync" Anya called, "You take care of the replica" with that she took up the rear behind the three girls and followed Legretta who held their weapons.


	12. Rescue party:Anya and friends

**Notice: There are only 3 more OCs and that's it! Selphie from FF8, I'm sure you all know her. Great thanks to ****Labyrinth**** for her inspiring review on the previous chapter**.

Chapter twelve

The laboratory would have been dark if the glowing blue lights of the machines weren't present. On a certain fon machine that looked like a bed was a dark haired slender woman who seemed to be sleeping peacefully except the occasional winces and grunts of pain.

The creaking of a door was heard softly as though whoever was coming was trying to remain unnoticed. A young woman with chocolate brown hair cut in a jagged short style with messy jagged bangs covering her left eye closed the door behind her.(Her hair is similar to Shelke in FF dirge of Cerberus). Sasha made her way to the machine where her best friend Katharine was being held for the experiments. She returned her guns to the pockets and scowled; she needed a change of clothes right away. _More like a shower_, she thought.

She winced slightly as she saw the wires attached to Katharine's almost naked body.

_Never thought a day like this would come,_ she thought and covered Katharine with a white sheet from the adjacent table and began pulling the wires. She checked behind every now and then, hoping none of the God-Generals would intervene. Where the hell was Anya? Sync had informed her that she had arrived.

Katharine groaned and came to her senses, "what's going-" she stopped as soon as she saw that she only had her undergarments on and quickly wrapped the sheet around.

"Let's get going now" Sasha urgently told her and she nodded, "we'll have to meet up with Anya".

"She's here?" Katharine asked, her voice elated, "I just hope she has a plan".

"This is Anya we're talking about" Sasha returned, "She'll do anything to her power".

"Yeah" Katharine replied tightening the sheet around her and then smirked arrogantly, "You've got to see whose friend she is". The two tiptoed to Legretta's room.

* * *

"I can't believe her", Anise heatedly shouted for the tenth time, "That traitorous, blood-sucking-"

"Where did that come from?" Luke asked her, slightly confused and Anise glared.

"It's my way of cursing her" she told him, "I miss Tokunaga".

"Yes, I do too" Tear muttered.

"Anya's going to pay for that" Anise started once again, "She tore off Tokunaga's strap, mutilated him. How dare she?" she ranted as she remembered Anya forcefully pulling Tokunaga off her back and then kicking the doll to a guard who had taken away their weapons.

The group was being held in a large cell with gray walls and no windows or any other prisoners close by. A single bulb with fifth fonons was hanging from the ceiling giving very less amount of light making the place gloomier than ever.

"I can't" they heard Ion give up, "The curse slot can't be removed". He didn't need to tell Luke about the slot just yet.

"Neither can I perform any of my healing spells" Natalia said with a frown.

"It seems as though the room is equipped with something to diminish our powers" Jade observed and then took hold of his wrist, feeling it and then let it be.

"It's that bad?" Anise asked him quietly. Somehow, the colonel didn't seem like a man to be hurt from a kick but she guessed that Anya was indeed….strong.

"Why?" Luke asked, "Why would she do this though? I mean, after coming such a long way"

"I know what you mean" Tear said, "she could've done this anytime, when we were in Daath or Keterburg…" she trailed off and everyone was once again thrown into their own thoughts.

* * *

She tried hard not to run because the sound of her loud steps might attract any guard on duty but she couldn't help it. Every now and then she would stop in her tracks until she was sure she wasn't being followed in the deathly silent base of the God-Generals.

Anya cursed silently as she rounded another corner and found many doors and thought of checking out all of the rooms when she saw a faint blue glow at the edges of one door. Thankfully she had found one of the rooms she had been looking for and opened the door slightly. It was empty but just to be sure she entered and checked the fon machine on which were discarded wires as though someone had tore them open and she knew they were safe. Sighing, she left the lab only to look for her two best friends and …Elena.

* * *

"Colonel" Anise suddenly broke the silence, "Do you know that Freya girl? You know that girl the woman was talking about?"

"Yeah" Luke started, "You looked like you knew her".

Jade sighed dramatically and the others smiled, despite the situation. Well, yes I suppose. I just met her once" and he gave a very(I mean very) brief description of the story which included big words and so shortened his narrative.

"But she said she was lost" Natalia mused slowly, "You sister said that she lived in Keterburg and her mother told us that was her everyday haunt".

It was the exact thing even Jade hadn't figured out. Somehow it didn't fit in. He couldn't believe he was dwelling on a stupid phrase of some eccentric child he had met years ago. Just how bored was he?

"What do we do now anyway?" Tear asked finally, "We can't let them have the fon master".

"Yeah, you're right" Luke agreed, "Hey! We could do something".

Everyone looked up at his sudden exuberance. "They'll send some guard to get Ion right?"

"What if one of the god-general does that?" Anise asked. Luke grimaced slightly and then, "Look, we'll see about that later alright. For now, if a guard comes then there's a likely chance we could overthrow him and get ourselves out of here".

"Luke" Jade scolded him, "Don't underestimate your opponents".

"Yeah I know-" Luke started but then Anise swore loudly and groaned.

"Talk of the devil" and sure enough there was an oracle soldier.

"Move away" he ordered in a gruff voice, "At the back, all of you. Yes and don't try any mischief. Fon master, if you please" he said unlocking the door using a device on the wall where he pressed some numbers. Ion walked forward slowly, looking defeated but a shout rang out in the place.

"Oh no you don't!" a childlike but forceful voice was heard from somewhere behind the guard and then, "Freeze up baby. Frost strike!" At this, a shower of snowflakes encircled the oracle guard. He looked as though he was petrified and then hit the floor with a thud. They had thought they'd seen enough of surprises for one day and none of them were ready for the next encounter. Everyone stared outside the door wondering who had saved them when the figure of a young girl approached the cell.

She couldn't be any more than seven or eight years old with short brown hair cut in a messy style and short straight bangs. She wore blue short jeans skirt and a white T-shirt with frilly edges complete with orange and white sneakers and matching socks. (Trust me, it's better than I described).

As she raised her big blue eyes with a satisfied smile at the unconscious guard, Tear couldn't help but stare at this little girl as though hoping she would turn into a doll any moment and she could cuddle it. She was about to advance when Jade stopped her.

"She maybe luring us into something" he said. Tear realized her mistake and wondered how she might have been about to fall for such a thing.

The stranger cocked her head to a side as she surveyed them with her arms crossed across her chest. She wasn't very tall; at the most she would probably reach Anise's shoulder that's why after some time of their out staring each other game she looked away massaging the back of her neck.

"Tall, red eyes" she mumbled to herself after looking at Jade, "Okay, red hair, yeah hmm..."

"Can we help you?" Ion spoke up first and she looked at him.

"Good thing you're not that tall" she said pointing to Jade in a voice that only made Tear want to go snatch her up and hug her any moment.

"So you're Luke Fon Fabre?" she asked turning to the duke's son who looked surprised.

"Y-yeah" he managed, "Who told you that?"

She smirked proudly, "I'm a smart bitch" she said in a bossy voice putting an exclamation sign over everyone's head, "Anyway" she continued brushing aside the not-suitable-for-children language, "Jade Curtiss huh?" she asked motioning towards him and he nodded.

She counted the number of people in the cell and ordered them to go with her.

"Why would we do that?" Luke shouted, clearly panicked and she rolled her eyes.

"I won't eat you up" she replied, "Trust me. I was sent here to get you guys out" she told them in her babyishly innocent voice.

"Who sent you?" Anise asked.

"Nuh-uh. Can't say that now" she replied opening the door properly, "Come on let's go and oh yeah-" she seemed to remember something and pulled out a sword and a ragged doll from behind…

"Hey that's mine!" Luke shouted, elated.

"Tokunaga!" Anise exclaimed as the little girl handed it to her and she saw that it had been repaired.

"It's cute" she told her, "I had it to myself the whole day after you guys came".

"Well" Anise blushed, "I made this myself".

"Really?"

"I would give this to you if it wasn't my only way of fighting" Anise told her, "But I'll make you one once we reach Daath" she added and the other girl gave her a hug.

"Come to think of it" Natalia started, "Why are you here in the first place um-"

"Elena" the little girl told her, "I can't tell you anything now okay? Let's leave safely and then we'll see about all of this".

"You aren't telling us anything" Luke panted as he supported a weak Guy on his shoulder. The two healers had healed Guy as best as they could without weakening themselves too much as soon as they were out. Elena motioned for them to be quiet.

"There are usually guards here at this time" she whispered, "Just try keeping in the shadows".

* * *

Anya headed for the room where she had a sneaking suspicion her friends might be. She opened the door to reveal a peach painted room with little furniture, Legretta's room. On the bed was Elena giggling and beside her was Sasha and Katharine…

"GUYS!" Anya shouted closing the door behind her. Her best friends looked at her and then at their hands where they were each holding a strap of a…

"Of all the things to fight over" Anya said weakly, "A bra?" she whispered which resulted in more sniggers from Elena.

"There's a minor here, what's wrong with the two of you?" she asked fiercely as they threw the cloth away and rushed to her. The three remained locked in a bone crushing hug for a few moments. It had been almost a month since Anya had seen them but it felt like an eternity.

She eyed her friends with slight tears in her eyes. They were alright, they were perfectly fine. She wouldn't ever have been able to forgive herself if something happened to Sasha and Rin; all her efforts, her betrayal would have been poured into nothing. Anya couldn't help but smile despite the dangers that awaited them behind the closed door; her friends were…her friends alright.

"Elena, you know the plan" she turned to the young girl now sitting straight up with rapt attention, "That guard Gregory will be there within five minutes. Make sure no one notices, at least any of the God-Generals-"

"So I just make up an awesome lie when the guards ask me what I'm doing at this time?" she asked the older girl who nodded.

"Go, alright. Take care"

"No worries" Elena stood up and saluted how she had seen her brother doing, "Mission will be accomplished".

After she was gone, Anya turned to the other two who still were rummaging inside Legretta's drawers.

She grabbed a handful of clothes and threw them on the bed, "Just wear whatever comes. We don't have much time".

"But look at the skirt" Katharine pointed, "The waist-"

"Just wear it" Sasha told her, "Fix it up with a belt or something Rin".

"I'm going" Anya announced picking up a black tank top, "Just meet up with Elena later". Before going, she turned back to Sasha, "Oh by the way, I'll be using your double swords so just be content with those guns for a while alright?" Sasha nodded and she left.

She sighed and tiptoed to a room across, she didn't necessarily need a change of clothes but something to camouflage her definitely. Entering the room, she saw a broken robot on the table and a vase with a dozen roses.

She opened Dist's closet grinning and found what she wanted. A black headband, although why he would keep such a thing was beyond her thoughts. Then she found a long black coat. She took it out and chuckled softly, no doubt it was taken from the female section of the shop.

She changed into her all-black attire and then pulled open her hair from the ponytail. Sighing, she took the headband and tied it around her eyes so that her vision went black. (She sounds like a dark haired female version of Riku from KH doesn't she?). Strapping up the two thin swords along with the staff, she began making use of her other senses and decided to hold the enemies at bay for Elena because she really didn't have much of a plan.

* * *

"Wow!" Anise commented as they headed forward and saw that the guards were lying unconscious.

"Did you make all this mess?" Tear asked Elena, stepping aside to avoid the heap of bodies.

Elena shook her head, "Nah, I wouldn't have been able to take care of that many enemies at once. Thanks to whoever helped".

"There's someone else who's helping us?" Luke asked her not really sure what to believe.

"Of course" Elena replied, taking a small gameboy like device from her pocket, "I told you I was sent to rescue you guys, remember?"

Jade just watched this little girl who had been walking with him since the beginning. No matter how he changed his pace, Elena was keeping up with him. It surprised him that instead of being scared, she had seemed to become attached to him. He really didn't know why anyone here would be helping them out; hell he was puzzled and Jade Curtiss wasn't one to be confused. First, Anya had turned them to the God-Generals, then she hadn't allowed them to be killed, they had actually been given enough time for rest; was it nearing midnight now? And whatever on Aludrant was Elena handling?

"What's that?" Natalia asked her, pointing at the device in her hand.

"It's a tracker" Elena told them, "When I take a sample of blood fonons from someone's body and enter it here, I can program this thing to direct me to them as long as they're in my range".

"Blood?" Guy asked her, "You need to-"

"Just a pint" Elena answered.

"That's interesting", Jade finally spoke up, his eyes still on the object.

"I know", she replied, "Midgard technology" she added in a pompous tone.

"You're from there too?" Luke asked her incredulously and she nodded.

Jade eyed her again, something forming in his head. There was a certain Anya-ish air about her and he wondered….

"Sshh!" Tear suddenly halted them and they heard footsteps, quiet and careful ones as though the person was trying to remain silent. They pressed themselves against the wall and waited to attack whoever it was as soon as the person rounded the corner.

Anya prowled in the middle of the hallway keeping her distance from the walls knowing that anyone of those God-Generals or even her friends might try and ambush her. She reached the corner and immediately pointed an arrow where she heard breathing noises.

"Who's there?" she whispered, not letting whoever it was recognize her by the voice.

"I-it's me, El-" Elena started in a shaky voice because the tip of the arrow was almost pointing at her chin but stopped when the attacker with the blindfold withdrew the weapon with a smile.

"I've contacted Selphie. Find them and go" she whispered and was on her way when she turned around and handed Tear's staff and Natalia's weapon to them who looked speechless. She then unsheathed two thin blades from her dark coat, the daggers that Legretta had thrown at them in Theor Forest and once again vanished into the darkness. They started following Elena again. She seemed to know what she was doing.

"W-who was that?" Guy whispered.

"I don't know" Natalia whispered back.

"She looked like she knew Elena though" Tear replied in a soft voice.

"A friend of Elena's perhaps?" Jade replied, "Why are you all whispering?"

"I don't know", Luke said and then was cut off as someone came and pointed a gun at him and another girl cracked a whip dangerously at their feet.

"What the-" he started and Tear was already starting the 'Nightmare' hymn when Elena rushed forward.

"It's me, you guys" she told the two newcomers who looked at the group and then withdrew their weapons. The one with the guns was wearing jeans shorts and a sky blue sleeveless t-shirt (Tomb raider style). She stuck her guns to the black garters around her toned thighs. Katharine strapped her chain whip into the decorative belt around her strapless long dress that had a long slit on the right side, exposing long shapely leg in strappy pumps.

"Well, we gotta be careful right?" Sasha pointed out. Rin smiled at them politely and introduced themselves.

"Now that the chitchat's over, shall we get going to wherever it is you're taking us?" came the question from Jade.

"Guess this is yours" she took out his lance and handed it to him. "Yeah Len, what's the idea?" Sasha asked turning to the little girl.

"You don't know?" Elena asked her, surprised.

"She was locked up in the lab for the past few days" Sasha told her and she shuddered, "And I was in my room. I had to try very hard to persuade Dist into letting me out."

"Should I even bother asking what you did?" Rin asked her suspiciously.

Sasha shrugged, "I just told him that I would love to meet him somewhere outside. He agreed and I told him that I needed to prepare myself for him and somehow escaped."

"I'm sure he bought that story, knowing the dim-witted being he is" Jade said with a creepily happy smile.

"So?" Anise asked the little girl who now had everyone's eyes. She cleared her throat in a dignified manner.

"We take the Terracon from the roof top which is on the next level" she said as though that answered everything.

"The Terracon?" Rin's eyes widened, "Here? How-"

"It's all been arranged" Elena replied, "We're finally gonna get out of this place" she cheered with her dimples coming out.

"Err, Elena" Tear started hesitantly, "We get that, but what _is_ the Terracon?"

"It's an aircraft" Sasha immediately responded.

"You know, one that flies?" Rin elaborated as though talking to children.

"But you guys probably have no idea-"

"Because Terracon is one of the private jets-"

"Of Garnet City-"

"And Midgard people are a hell lot-"

"Of a genius than you guys around here-"

"Argh! Shut up you two" Elena shouted with a glare at Rin and Sasha. Everyone else just stared at the two who talked in such an entertaining manner and because of the information they just gave.

"Are you saying that this Terrawhatever thing can actually fly?" Luke asked and the older girls nodded.

"I did once hear about Midgard being rich in equipment from the Dawn Age" Guy mused out in awe.

"Yeah, you really should visit Garnet City once" Sasha told him, "You wouldn't wanna come back".

"I see Midgard is also rich in stuck-up people" Guy muttered darkly at the proud attitude of Sasha.

"What is Gar-" Luke started asking about the city which was being mentioned every now and then but stopped when a familiar small figure arrived with a giant man. Everyone with their weapons readied themselves immediately. The only exceptions were Ion, Guy and an annoyed Jade who had to hold back a headstrong Elena about to attack with her shuriken.

"I see. So our little heroes did a jail break", Largo commented in a soft growl.

"Don't worry", Sync smirked getting in a battle position, "We can take care of amateurs".

* * *

Legretta made her way to the room that had been assigned to her. She opened the door and swept the room with a harsh glare and immediately strode off to report to the Commandant.

"Yes, Legretta?" Van asked her from his chair.

"I told you", she panted from the run, "That Anya would do something about it and-"

"Calm down Legretta" he said in his own calm tone, "Tell me what happened".

"They took my spare guns, ransacked my room and took the young girl with them as well".

"Gregory's not here yet" Sync muttered from the doorway with a frown, "You think-"

"I want you and Largo to check on the fon master and his little group" Van interrupted with a slight worried look on his face. The two God-Generals made their way out leaving Legretta and Van.

"I need to be left alone for sometime" he turned to Legretta who wore a concerned expression.

"Are you alright? You look-"

"I'm fine" he said stiffly, "Just don't bother about these prisoners. I need Anya no matter what. But if they do escape…she will probably have a heart attack after a few days".

"What do you mean?" she asked him.

'It's that Katharine", he told her with a smile and explained the rest so that she knew that Anya truly would break down at this.

* * *

"Damn that Anya!" Guy raged as he dodged another one of Largo's attacks. Largo kept targeting the one without the weapon but at the same time Sync kept the others busy so that they didn't have much of a chance to play protectors. Elena threw out an arte here and there when possible. She was so small that it wasn't much of a work for Jade to keep defending her anymore; soon he was casting fonic artes, "Grant mine enemies a final rest. Flame Burst!"

"O hellion whose roar chills the very soul, resound! Bloody Howling!" Anise shouted while Tear chanted "Behold! Pow Hammer!" and a red hammer plopped down on Largo's shoulder.

Luke saw a field from one of Sync's attacks and took advantage of it, "Feel thunder! Lighting Tiger Blade!"

"Oh no! It seems I didn't heal you fast enough..." Natalia muttered when Guy had a cut on his arm.

"You know there's no way you'll make it without a miracle" Largo growled.

"I had no idea you believe in miracles" came a soft slow voice and Sync whirled around to block an attack that came down on him. The wielder of the thin double blades was the same blind folded girl they had run into earlier.

"Here", she thrust Guy's sword into his hand and he started battling along with everyone else without a question.

"And just who the hell are you?" Sync shouted as he aimed turbulence at her feet.

"Howl O raging wind! Turbulence!" She avoided the hit with a back flip as quick as Sync's.

"I don't see the need to tell you that", she replied and began an arte, "Bind mine enemies in your being. Pristine Shards!" she shouted as icy crystals protruded from the ground around Largo's ,atleast she had made good use of her new arte.

The group continued to battle for sometime and Anya knew they would get caught this way. There wasn't much time; she could already see the gleaming coats of the oracle soldiers' armor.

"Len!" she shouted clutching her bloodied forehead as she failed to avoid an attack from Guy. Sync was controlling Guy again this time, only making use of the curse slot very dangerously. But it wasn't much of a problem because her head was healed fast enough.

"Take the stairs to the fifth floor and a right turn. Selphie's waiting" she informed her.

"But what about you?" Sasha asked her.

"Just go."

"But-"

"NOW!"

They hesitated for a second and then Elena decided to follow her orders accordingly, "Come on, you guys" she shouted.

Rin twirled around her chain whip over her head in a lasso and then hit Guy behind the neck so that he lost consciousness again. Jade hoisted him up on his shoulder without any complaint and followed the little girl.

"I'll handle them" Anya told her best friends who looked hesitant to leave her there. She turned to see the God-Generals retreating, no doubt leaving the work to the Oracle soldiers who outnumbered her.

"_I know you can do it"_ Elena whispered in her mind.

"How much more?" Luke panted as they sprinted another set of stairs.

"This is the fourth one right?" Rin observed, "Yeah, that's the lab. Let's go" and they set off for two more flights of stairs.

* * *

Meanwhile, Anya was still battling many oracle soldiers at once and it was getting tiring. She suddenly heard the clear whizz of bullets and she brought her left hand up to brace herself so that it didn't reach anywhere near her heart. She gritted her teeth at the impact. It felt as though her bones had shattered into million of pieces with the excruciating pain. Right then, an oracle soldier slashed at her head like Guy and it not only cut her temple this time but also tore the band. Blood was flowing from her wrist, from her head into her eyes and she blinked furiously in an attempt to stop it.

"I knew you weren't trustworthy from the beginning Anya", she heard Legretta's voice from nearby and then felt a tug at her elbow. Her wounds weren't healing properly, she couldn't focus on the action as her head began going dizzy.

"Damn you woman" she said weakly and with a sudden bout of strength jerked her hand away and took off upstairs.

She started shooting again and followed the traitor upstairs. She kept up till the third floor and then skidded to a halt. Just where could she be? Somewhere here or on the roof? She looked at the many doors and selected the latter. She had a sneaking suspicion that the girl would try any means of escape at the moment.

"I'm not leaving this place without her", Sasha told Elena for the third time and started to walk back but was blocked by the little girl.

"Please, you must understand. She asked me to do this", she explained, "I need to get you all out of here".

"She came all the way for us Len" Rin argued, "I won't let my best-"

"HEY GUYS!" came a cheerful shout and they turned around to see a metallic silver aircraft hovering few feet above the ground. From the open portal, a limp rope ladder was swaying in the gentle wind.

"SELPHIE!" the three Midgard girls shouted in relief and spared a glance behind, then made their way to the vehicle.

The others were still standing in shock at the arrival of 'The Terracon'.

"This thing actually…." Luke trailed off in amazement.

"I'm sure we could get to know this better once we are more comfortable than this", Jade told him from behind and the red head dashed off to climb the ladder. Slowly as they made their ascent, Natalia and Anise couldn't help gulping every time they looked down where the people and animals looked tiny…very tiny.

"Don't look down", Rin told them as though they were the stupidest of humans she had ever encountered not to know such an obvious fact.

Just as Sasha the last one made it inside, they heard a deafening gunshot and even before she had taken her seat, Selphie had taken off at full speed. Sasha fell on her butt and Rin took hold of her by the elbow to prevent any problem. The rush of air from the open portal was suffocating and Elena could feel the pressure hurting her ears and choking her breath.

Natalia looked slightly green as she hugged her body in the ear ache and just about everyone looked the same save Jade who had his usual calm expression on.

"Selphie!" Sasha managed to shout over the roaring noise of the aircraft, "The door".

Selphie gasped and then pressed a switch which shut the portal immediately and the cabin was then silent except their noises of sighs and relief.

"Sorry about that" she chirped with a smile and a quick backward scan, "Hey! Where's Anya?"

"She didn't make it" Rin told her slowly, "Last we saw her holding back some of the bad guys for us".

"Wait? What?" Anise exclaimed.

"That blindfolded one was her?" Tear asked, surprise written on her face.

"You all are with Anya?" Luke asked in shock. Everyone now had their eyes on the four new girls.

"I can't believe it" Natalia blew, "After all, it seems as though we aren't-"

"Hold it right there" Sasha interrupted with a glare, "She helped us get you people out".

"She _is_ the reason we were here in the first place", Anise pointed out and Sasha remained quiet.

"Look" Rin broke the tension, "Let's not jump to conclusion till we have the facts, alright?"

"Yeah", Sasha agreed, rubbing her forehead, "I don't understand the whole thing myself yet".

"I found her", Elena's sudden shout drew their eyes towards her and she hurried to Selphie who was now steering normally, circling the base of the God-Generals without everyone else's knowledge.

"What is it?" Sasha asked her.

"I located Anya", she answered and handed the tracker to Selphie.

"Left?" she observed, "that's where we just took off from".

"You mean the roof?" Rin asked her and she nodded. Selphie gasped as her sharp vision saw two figures in the faint lights of the roof.

"There she is", she said, "Okay guys, hold on tight".

"What are you-" Rin started asking but was slammed backwards into her seat as Selphie opened the portal and plunged towards the base again.

Legretta shot at Anya but the damned bullet missed her again and she swore under her breath. She wasn't getting away; the commandant had made it clear.

Anya saw the outline of 'the Terracon' closing in and wondered what the hell Selphie was up to and then saw the rope ladder. It was close, very close but she needed to make a careful jump to get a hold of that and escape out of that blasted Legretta's reach.

She didn't turn back and instead ran with all she had, hardly registering the whizz of the bullets aimed at her frequently. She had to make out of this place. Damn it, she wouldn't let some stupid woman get the better of her; she was smart, talented and a great commander. She _had _to live up to her reputation.

She did as she had planned and got hold of it and one of Legretta's shots finally found its way to her already injured arm. Her grip slackened and for that one second fear consumed her as the speed of the jet registered in her head. One wrong move and she would…no, she had come this far, she would make it up there safe to see her friends. The thought of them propelled her to start ascending, wincing slightly.

Selphie slowed down as they left the base far behind them. Sasha and Rin scrambled to the doorway and pulled up Anya on to the floor. The door shut close and Anya remained on all fours, breathless but relieved.

"Sis", Elena said in a shaky voice, "You've got blood all over".

Anya looked down and was about to answer when Tear interrupted.

"Sis? As in sister?" she asked in surprise.

Anya nodded slowly getting to her feet and made her way to a seat with Sasha and Rin who had worried looks. "I'm fine" she told them with a smile.

She closed her eyes and the cut on her temple healed. She frowned and realized that she needed help with the bullets. Sighing, she turned to the others, "I guess I owe you guys an explanation".

**I didn't plan on using OCs anymore but trust me that's it! I'l now be using characters from other games mainly FF8 cuz it's easier for everyone to imagine the character, right? Reviews are always appreciated. Would like to know how it was. **


	13. Falling again Hurt again

**I'll use Anna from tekken, Alicia from Valkyrie profile2, Laguna and Zell from FF8. Don't shoot me, I'm not trying to make this a crossover. Just makes life easier to use other game characters. I think I'm addicted to writing BIG chapters. Thanks ****Labyrinth**** for the review once again.**

Chapter thirteen

Princess Alicia of Midgard was spending her time inside her chamber, waiting for her attendant to come and inform her when lunch would be served. That's how it was for the nineteen-year old blond. Nothing much to do; not even sword practice, something she had a passion for since she had watched the Garnet City students in training. She turned her sea blue eyes towards the seven leveled whitewashed building that was the famous Garnet City with its infamous Goldpine Academy. It was situated a little away from the palace so that the royalty could have a good view of it but not be seen.

Even at nineteen she had a small build, a face with such delicate and innocent features that any stranger mistook her to be not more than fifteen. A knock on her door and a maid entered.

"Your highness", came a squeaky, panicked voice, "Your mother has fallen ill. His highness wishes for you to attend to her". Alicia sprinted towards her parents' chamber in worry earning a few disapproving looks from the older maids. Running around wasn't proper behavior but she didn't care.

"Mother", she called out in relief as she saw the Queen sitting on her bed looking pale, "Whatever must have been the reason?"

"It's nothing dear" she replied but when she glanced at a portrait of her younger self holding a tiny baby, Alicia knew that she had once again been wallowing in the thoughts of her sister. Her sister who had been stolen by two attendants of the palace when she had been hardly two months.

"Do you know what happened?" the queen asked Alicia when she remained quiet.

"No" she replied, "I never wanted to make you worry. It seemed..."

"I asked the two attendants to take her away", the Queen told her at once. Alicia stared at her. Could her mother possibly be saying that she had been involved in the kidnapping?

"The scorers arrived one day and they told us that in the ND2018, this daughter of royal blood shall be the aid of one causing calamity if allowed to live the ostentatious life of royalty. Those were their exact words, I will never forget them. Even now I remember when we saw the mark of a sorceress on my child's back".

'She was a sorceress?" Alicia whispered in amazement. This had never been told to her before.

"Yes", her mother replied, "The king…your father wouldn't have anything to do with a child that was as he called, 'A defect'. He wanted her to be shipped off to the Rugnican continent for that reason. I wouldn't have allowed that to happen to my daughter, no matter what she was. So I arranged for my faithful attendant Kayla McClain to run off with her husband somewhere far away".

"So they're safe now?" Alicia couldn't help asking. Even if she hadn't met her, she wondered what it would be like to have an older sister….

"No" the Queen replied, "The last time we had contact was before their house was burned down by the men of Duke Fabre in Hod. After that…" she didn't need to continue anymore.

Alicia pulled her mother into an embrace and hoped with everything that Freya was well and alive. It was all there was to do.

000000000000000000000000

He looked down at the figure in front of him. No pity or mirth in those eyes.

"Tell me Vandelesca". His voice was soft and dangerous. "Should I finish this here and now for you or is there any chance that you may fulfill our deal?"

"It…won't happen…again". Van panted, out of breath, clutching his side from the impact of the many swords that had materialized and attacked him.

"You've failed me", he replied and turned away from the exhausted man sprawled in front of him, "The princess…the Midgard girl, every one of them-"

"I tried-" Van interrupted harshly. What the hell did he think? That he hadn't taken their deal seriously? That he wasn't intent on helping him out?

"Silence mortal" he turned, his icy blue eyes flashing with anger, "Maybe…it's time I target that sister of yours, hmm what do you say?"

"Not Mystearica" Van whispered fiercely and his captor surveyed him again.

"If I don't get the assistance, then why should I help you overthrow the Score?"

"There was no point just yet", Van said finally getting up, "He didn't even have any proper idea about the Sword of Lorelei. But once I reach the core, I assure you that we both shall get rewarded".

"I see", the man said in a tone of finality and wrapped his cloak around himself. He had to check up on his beloved, his precious gem…Gelda.

"Farewell then", he said and flew off into the night without the aid of any wings.

000000000000000000000

"So you're saying that they were blackmailing you?" Natalia asked with her eyes wide. Rin almost rolled her eyes. How dense was this princess?

"Yeah" Anya replied, "That day in Deo Pass, after Legretta caught up with us-"

"The letter?" Ion interrupted and she nodded, "I see".

"It said that they had taken my sister and send me her chain as a proof", she showed the silver chain with the snowflake that was tucked around her neck.

Sasha rubbed her forehead, "But how did you know about us? I mean, we were kidnapped much after Elena".

"Asch". She replied, "The first time we were in Yulia City-" Luke shifted uncomfortably at this, "-he told me that he had caught Sync following him".

"Why would Sync follow Asch?" Anise asked, "I mean they're both God-generals".

"To reach us", Tear replied gaining surprised looks.

"How did you-" Anise started but Tear interrupted again.

"Van suspected that Asch might try interfering with his plans of destroying the Outer Lands", she said remembering the time she had overheard him and Legretta, "He wanted Sync to keep tabs on him. If he wanted to go against Van then he would probably meet up with us. I think that's how Van thought of it". She finished and Anya continued.

"Then Asch confronted Sync. He didn't explain the whole thing but said that they needed another letter to be given to me. Asch shook him off somehow and brought the letter to me."

"That's where they informed you about us", Rin said out loud.

"And so I started informing them about our next destinations but looks like we never ran into each other until…" Anya trailed off fiddling around with the locket again which had become a habit.

"I still hesitated doing this to you guys even then" she directed at the group, "But Legretta showed those daggers, Sasha's ones. It was the final straw". She ended her explanation and they were engulfed in silence, a very uncomfortable silence until Elena decided to break it.

"Your hand" she said quietly to Anya who had forgotten about it.

"Oh yeah" she noticed and then looked up at Tear hesitantly, "I won't ask you guys to trust me just now but it kinda hurts to get three shots in the same hand you know?" Tear kneeled down to where the four Midgard girls were sitting and healed her hand.

"Thanks" she said with a real smile and then turned to her friends, "How the hell did you guys get kidnapped in the first place?" Rin and Sasha looked at one another and the latter decided to speak.

"We sort of...um…came looking for you after you went missing" she told her.

"Here?" she asked disbelievingly and they nodded. Since when did those two start acting so rashly?

"Head Master Valeth told us you would be around these areas so we investigated" Rin continued, "Without anyone's knowledge" she added.

"Then Legretta, Sync and Largo found us. They were pretty though, even with our awesome skills".

"You guys go and get yourselves into all that trouble for nothing and I have to take desperate measures to get you guys out?" Anya fumed, her voice rising, "Do you know what I had to go through? Do you have any idea just how worried I was? Do you even give a damn-?"

"Anya", Sasha interrupted, equally loud, "Our best friend's out there somewhere. We didn't have any idea of you whereabouts. For all we knew, you could have been dead".

Anya's eyes narrowed, "I can handle myself" and then her anger melted.

"Are you guys alright?"

"You should be worrying about yourself" they both said at the same time.

"I'm sorry" she whispered making both her friends surprised, "You got involved in all of this because of me-"

Rin held up a hand, "wait. Before you start taking the blame on yourself-"

"But it's true" Anya argued, "I feel like…like I'm the worst friend anyone could ever want. God…"she hung her head letting her hair shield her face.

Sasha turned her around by the shoulder, "Don't you dare say that" she told her fiercely, "after everything that you did, after taking the risk of betraying your companions just so you could rescue us…do you think we don't understand?"

"Anya" Rin came closer to her, "Maybe you were stupid enough not to contact us and getting us into some hellish problem but the fact is, you came. We've always stuck through thick and thin. Always, together. This is no different. I don't know if any other best friend on this planet would do any of what you did". Anya looked up at them and within a second the three were locked in a hug for the second time.

"Just…don't…ever do that again" she scolded them.

Elena sighed with a smile, "You know? If I ever had to do a project on best friends, I would just have to bring you guys in the class and dress you all in yellow and pink". They wrinkled their noses in disgust and Elena laughed.

"Alright" Anya stood up, "Let's get the seats. I prefer them over the ground".

"Yeah, they can be so fucking annoying", the obscene words hadn't come from anyone but Elena and it shocked every one of them.

"Len!" Anya rounded on her, "Where the hell did you-?"

Selphie answered her, "Um…Anya? I think it was your bro who taught her that word"

"You have a brother?" Luke asked her, wondering just what more there was to learn about Anya.

She nodded, "Two months younger than me" and despite the fact that it didn't make sense, she then turned to Elena, "Honey, listen. Don't use the F-word alright?". Elena stared at her and then nodded, "Why-?"

"It's not a nice word" she told her lamely and then muttered to herself, "Just wait Zell…"

When they were all settled with Elena's head over Anya's lap, Luke beside an unconscious Guy, Anise and Jade, Sasha with Natalia, a small squeaky voice came.

"Mmm. That was a good good nap" Mieu said sleepily coming out of Tear's bag. Tear took him out with a smile and placed him on her lap where she began playing with his ears.

Rin made her way towards Tear where an empty seat was available and gave a disgusted look in her direction

"Eeew" she said and looked for any other seat. Finding one beside Selphie, she immediately sat on it throwing a dark look at Tear behind.

"Opening hostilities this early?" Jade asked, speaking for the first time.

"Yeah well, that's revolting. I'm not sitting anywhere near her", Rin told him.

Anya suddenly frowned at her attitude and then realized with a grin what her problem was. But pity, Tear wondered what she had done to gain that reaction.

She beckoned to Sasha and made her way towards Tear. She picked up Mieu and they edged their way towards Rin who looked back with a scared expression.

"No, no. Guys, anything but that. I swear I-" she shoved them back and almost ran all the way to the Terracon's rear where she took out her chain whip.

Sasha couldn't help but start laughing and then threw Mieu like a ball at Rin who yelped and jumped away from him. Mieu straightened up and stared at her with his wide eyes and so did the others. Anya came forward and picked up the cheagle before he could advance anymore.

"He's totally harmless Rin, see" she told her tickling his belly making him squirm.

"Not to mention cute" Anise piped in, grinning by her reaction.

"It's-it's furry and…yuck", Rin looked disgusted and made her way towards Tear again, "Just don't carry that thing around now alright?" Tear nodded with an amused smile. How could someone find Mieu scary?

"So, Selphie" Anya started, "Where are we now?"

"Closest to our current location is the capital, Grand Chokmah".

"Well, that's our place" she told her, "How long will it take?"

"Around two hours or so" the cute brunette told her, "You guys better get some sleep".

"Len's already done that" Anya said glancing at her sister's small form and sighed, "She's had a long day".

"So who's this Head Master Valeth?" Luke suddenly asked her, surprising her but she composed herself fast enough.

"The Principle of Goldpine Academy, Lezard Valeth" she told him.

"So" he turned to Sasha and Rin, "You guys are from that school?"

"Not school", Rin said, "Academy".

"Err-the difference is?"

"It sounds cooler" Anya told him.

"You know him?" Tear asked her and she thought about it for a few seconds then nodded. They would know about it anyhow soon…well, she had a feeling anyway.

"So, what took you so long?" Natalia asked her, "I mean, if you had to rescue us, you had the whole day yesterday".

Anya sighed, "I was locked up just like Sasha here. I didn't get a chance until Dist came along".

"Wait!" Rin shouted, "Are you telling me that even you flirted around with Dist to escape?"

She looked a little uncomfortable, "If you can call it flirting….I guess"

"Gosh Anya, don't tell me you did what I think you did?"

Anya glanced at Elena and then at Sasha who nodded and put her hands on either side of Elena's ears. She began struggling immediately to hear what her sister thought so unsuitable for her ears.

"I half-seduced him" she informed and everyone stared at her.

"Geez" Anise spoke up, "Since when did Dist the Reaper get so popular?"

"H-hey!" Anya looked at her indignantly.

"He was the easiest target" Sasha told them and then grinned, "And besides, Anya only half-"

"Shut up!"

This certainly was a side to Anya he hadn't seen before, Jade thought. Interesting. He would have to bring this up to Dist sometime later. He would deny it and then get frustrated, and then his nose would start running….

"So what happened to Guy?" she asked changing the topic.

"Err…I kinda attacked him when he started fighting us", Rin told her in a small voice.

"Why though?" Anya asked, "Is it because of the curse slot?" Ion nodded and then turned to Luke.

"You should know something. A curse slot controls a person through their emotions. Well, what I'm trying to say is that, Guy targets you alone because maybe you've done something to him so that he wants to kill you".

Luke looked thoroughly shocked to hear this, "A-are you sure about this? I mean what possible reason…"

"Well, you can't say Akzeriuth wasn't enough to want to kill you" Anise pointed out but Luke simply stared out at trough the window and wallowed in his miserable thoughts.

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"Ooh!" Rin continued to look at the approaching capital which was floating on water.

"Here we go" Selphie said cheerfully and landed smoothly on the field.

"Neat" Sasha remarked and they all made their way into the floating Capital.

On entering, they were met by a harassed looking General Frings who looked immensely relieved at the arrival of Jade.

"Colonel Curtiss!" he said immediately and saluted, "We thought you had died in the collapse of Akzeriuth".

Jade shrugged, "Informed wrongly. Well, we require an audience with His Majesty".

"Could we have a room where I could cure him?" Ion asked motioning towards Guy.

Frings looked a little hesitant but decided against it when Jade told him that his companions posed no threat.

"Luke" Jade turned to the red head, "You want some time alone? We'll head to the palace after sometime then".

Luke thanked the colonel and was about to walk away when Elena was pointing something out gleefully to them. He turned to see a blond young man who had his back to them facing the water where there were no railings. From behind he could just make out that he had his hair in a Mohawk and wore black all over with gloves like his own ones.

Anya slowly strode over to him and everyone watched as this proved to be a diversion. Their eyes widened when Anya was a foot away from the blond and she decided to push him so that he lost his balance and fell into the water.

"Whooooa!" he wailed and a loud splash accompanied with choking noises made Elena and Anya rack up with laughter and slap hi fives.

His hands came into view first as he gripped the sides of the road and then hauled himself up. From the front they could see that he had a large tattoo on the left side of his face but his hair, now dripping with water wasn't looking too good.

"What…the …hell was that FOR?" he panted at Anya, getting up and then kicked at her. She saw this and blocking it, aimed one at him. The two got into a playful fight and then suddenly Zell wrung her hand from behind making her give up.

"Do you think that's her brother?" Natalia asked the others. Anise looked positively elated for some reason.

"Okay. Enough of it Fish-head" she called out and smirked.

"Don't call me that you-you Shark-tail".

"Amusing" Jade muttered so that no one except Luke heard.

Anya dragged him over to the others, "Guys, this over here is my brother, Zell and Zell these are…"she introduced them to him. He curtsied and took Natalia's hand immediately to place a quick kiss on it.

"Your majesty" he tried a formal tone as Sasha rolled her eyes, "It's such a pleasure to meet you. Really, who would've known the princess could be so-"

"Sorry Zell", Anya took him by the hand, "She's engaged".

"Aww. Too bad" he said but then Anise had come forward batting her eyelashes.

"Mr. Zell…" she purred, "You are such a cutie. You know, I'm always free right here for you".

"How did you know he's rich?" Luke asked her, finally being able to take his mind away from Guy.

"Anya told me" she replied, remembering when she had made her promise not to tell anyone about the Katsberg ferry incident. _If you keep quiet about this, I'll take you to meet my brother sometime. He's one of the flirtiest guys I've ever come across plus...he's rich._

Zell looked a little surprised then smiled, "How about seven? Let's go out for-" he was cut off by a small slap from Rin.

"She's a kid, for God's sake" she hissed.

"I was just trying to befriend her" he replied with a befuddled expression, "why the slap?" When no one answered, he realized it, "Oh damn you guys! Do I look like some-"

"Enjoying while you can Anya?" came a snobby voice from behind and she turned to see a curvaceous brunette who had her short hair cut in a bob. She wore a red sleeveless kimono with a slit on one side and red pumps. Overall, she was a sight to be spotted very easily.

"Anna" she said in a voice that contained nothing but revulsion but her eyes didn't show much, "What the hell do you want?"

She raised her eyebrow after sweeping them all a look, a moment too long lingering on Jade and then smiled smugly, "You're in trouble, dear. Grandpa has some serious talk with you. We'll be in the Inn" and she returned to the mentioned place.

"Err. who is she?" Luke asked her.

"Someone else you happen to know?" Tear asked.

"Sister", Anya replied in an uncaring tone.

"My… I had no idea you had such a large family"

"She's…quiet happy", Sasha observed.

"So what?" Zell asked with a blank look.

"So it's absolutely appalling", Anya snapped running a hand through her hair.

Rin shook her head, "You know, I don't have any idea how Zell was made the Head of the Squad Teams before you Anya".

Zell smiled smugly, "You see babe, it's all here" he pointed to his head, "It's called talent".

"Talent in that head of yours?Fiiiish-head!" Elena dragged her words with a devilish grin.

"So why do you call him that?" Tear asked them all.

"Because he's stupid-"

"Has a tiny weeny head-"

"This means the brain the size of a pea-"

"Actually it's probably the shape that gives him the name", Anya interrupted Sasha and Rin's talk, "See, his head's so narrow-"

"That it looks like a fish's one", Elena concluded and Zell fumed.

"Ha-ha", Anya laughed, "Okay, we actually have something important. Let's talk later alright?" They left off without Zell, Sasha, Rin and Elena.

"Luke", Tear was walking beside him with Mieu on her shoulder, "Stop thinking things alright".

"But Guy hates me so much that he-"

"So what Luke?" she rounded on him, her hands on her hips and Mieu, losing balance took hold of her hair like a swing but she didn't seem to care. "He came back for you didn't he? Maybe sometime in the past you may have made him so mad that he despised you to death but I'm sure it's changed".

"You know Tear, you're right. I'm sorry for going depressed. Thanks everyone", Luke smiled genuinely and they made their way to General Frings.

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"Wow!" Anise looked awed as they entered the palace, "I would so love to stay here" she said with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Ha-ha", Jade laughed and ruffled the teen's hair, "Emperor Peony loves any woman he lays his eyes upon. Looks like you actually have a chance this time Anise". She squealed happily and bounced all the way inside the audience hall.

"Ahh, so you are the ones dragging my Jade all over the world? Can be a real pain, can't he?" Emperor Peony talked to them in such an informal tone that it immediately put them at ease.

Clearing out the misunderstandings about Kimlasca and Malkuth's new reasons for starting a war, Luke asked for permission if they could go to evacuate the citizens of . Peony laid a hand on his shoulder at this.

"Please save them. They're my dearest people", he told him with hope in his blue eyes.

"Well, then Your Majesty. I suppose we will take our leave", Jade said in his formal manner which he used in presence of others with the Emperor. They turned to go outside when Peony called again.

"Wait!" he said and walked over to them and then did a double take as he looked at Anya.

"Why! If it isn't Instructor Anastacia Demelza Loire" he exclaimed and shook her hand with his charming smile.

"W-what?" Tear looked at her askance, "Emperor, you can't mean-"

Anya interrupted her, "He's right. Sorry I kept it from you guys all along" she told them as though it was nothing, ignoring their wide eyed surprised looks. Jade smiled smugly. Who else would have come to the correct conclusion if not him?

"Let's go then?" she asked them impatiently tapping her foot, "We have to check up on Guy, travel and save a city from falling".

"One minute Anastacia", Peony stopped her once again, "Your grandfather, Head Master Laguna Loire arrived here yesterday. I suggest you speak with him before leaving". Anya thanked him and they all made their way outside. They heard him cal out again.

"Drop by again if you have time. I've got something to show you guys".

Immediately Anise rounded on her, "'I Teach in a school'", she mimicked Anya from earlier. "Why, I sure as hell thought you were a nursery teacher. Honestly Anya, just how lame could you make yourself sound?"

Anya didn't look that offended, "I could hardly go giving my actual identity. I was just being careful".

"I can't believe I've been travelling with someone like you all along", Natalia muttered, "I wonder how Guy's going to take it".

"So", Tear still seemed to be having trouble processing the information, "You really are _the_ Instructor Loire?" Anya nodded and hid a smile behind her hand.

"Not for long", came that same snooty voice and they saw Anna standing a few feet away with her arms crossed across her full chest. She smirked, "I told Grandpa you're here. He needs to talk to you". When Anya simply decided to ignore her and go, Anna spoke again, "He's angry, _infuriated_. You get that Sis? I told him something about you, something bound to get you into hell lot of trouble", with that she turned and went to the Inn.

"Erm…Anya?" Natalia hesitated, "Isn't she your sister?"

"Unfortunately, yeah", she replied with a frown. Why had she seemed so ecstatic?

"But we don't get along. Never have and I'm not about to try changing that" she told them in a tone that suggested that the topic was closed. _Oh well, nothing to worry about._ At the most, Grandpa would give her 150 pushups in ten minutes. What more?

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"Hey!" Guy greeted the group at the door with a tired but cheerful smile but then caught sight of Anya, "w-what is she doing here?"

"Guy, you weren't supposed to be up until we came to you", Luke scolded him and then when he continued to stare at Anya, "long story", he replied.

"I'm sorry Guy. I don't know what I've done to make you this mad but I promise I'll try not being the reason for your anger again".

Guy laughed it off and took a seat in the lobby, "It's not your fault Luke. It's not your fault at all that I hated you so much I wanted to kill you". It still shocked Luke to hear it from him directly, although he had been thinking about it.

"I was originally from Hod. When I was still a kid, the war of Hod began and Duke Fabre commanded the soldiers to kill my family. My entire family and the maids and every living being in the manor".

Jade strode forward, "Count Gilardia Galan of the House of Gardios", he announced surveying him with a look.

Guy gave a humorless smile, "I guess you knew".

"I noticed a few things like your Albert Style for example; it's a style unique to Hod. I did a little research and found out about it".

"Smart man", came Sasha's voice from the stairs and they looked at her direction. "Your grandpa's calling you Anya; didn't seem too happy about things". They followed her upstairs where her grandfather Laguna Loire, the Head of Garnet City had taken a room.

He was sitting on one of the sofas with an expression Anya had quite never seen in her entire life. Anna stood behind him and as she entered, drew her index finger across her neck in a beheading gesture with a smirk. Her friends, Selphie, and her siblings crowded the room.

"Maybe we should just remain out here", Luke suggested but Laguna smiled and waved it off after introducing himself.

"No, no. It's an honor to be able to meet the royalty of Kimlasca Lanvaldear. If things wouldn't have stood as bad as now, I would have formally spent some time with you all. But getting down to business…" he looked at Anya and all pleasantry vanished, "Sit" he said harshly and she almost gasped in the action. Laguna never spoke that way to her. What could she possibly have done?

"I never expected this of you Anastacia. Never!" his last word rang in her ears.

"But what have-"

"You of all the people let me down this way?"

She scowled slightly, "Grandpa, can you make it fast? We don't have much time. I have to leave"

"You ran away from Garnet City-"

"No!" she shouted out and stood immediately, "You think whatever I'm doing now is about some personal glory? Do you think I came here of my own wishes?"

"It doesn't matter either way" he told her, "Sit. The fact remains is that, I have been getting some messages from a reliable source". She raised an eyebrow at Anna who imitated her.

"You know the rules very well Anastacia" he said slowly to produce a creepy effect, "decree number six particularly, don't you?"

She gulped as he stared at her and she could feel her friends' eyes on her too. They would come to know about it….

"Any sort of romantic relationships among the staff are very much forbidden", she replied keeping her cool.

"Exactly" he said and leaned back on his chair, "Do you know one of us has broken that law?" She knew where he was getting but as long as she pretended she didn't know….

"Like I said before" he told her now in an icy voice, "My source has informed me that you, yes _you_ have been engaged in an affair with the Academy's head master Lezard Valeth."

Sasha's eyebrows shot upwards at this and Zell's mouth dropped open. Rin couldn't believe it either.

"W-what? Sir, are you quite sure about this?" she asked Laguna who had eyes for no one but Anya.

"Do you know that even the students at Goldpine are talking about it?" he lost his composure, "Everyone's asking me about it because unfortunately, you happen to known as a member of my family". She looked up at him in disbelief and Elena interrupted.

"Grandpa!" she cried out with teary eyes, "This isn't fair to Anya, she's as much your granddaughter as Anna or I are. Just because she's adopted-" she clapped a hand over her mouth as soon as the words were out and looked at Anya, scared. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay" Anya told her covering her face in her hands. Sasha and Rin looked downright betrayed, hurt even. She hadn't trusted them enough to convey a major part of her life to them. How had her life come to this?

"Elena, don't interrupt. This isn't the place for a child's words" Laguna told her as gently as he could. Zell steered her by the shoulders and headed outside with Elena struggling.

"I had a meeting with the other staff members concerning this issue", he told her settling down again. "It seems as though you won't be spared whatever penalty is expected for this inappropriate behavior of yours".

"Fine then" she said leaning back in her chair, "Go ahead and finish this conference already will you?" Laguna's eyes hardened. Grandfather or colleague, Anya never spoke to him this way either.

"From today onwards you will no longer be in position of the Instructor or any other for Goldpine Academy" he told her deliberately slowly.

Selphie's head shot up, "What? You can't mean you're firing her".

"That's exactly what I mean to say" Laguna told her, his voice not betraying the regret and misery he felt. This wasn't how he had wanted their reunion to be, hell he had been worried sick about her.

A cold and uncomfortable silence fell over the room. Tear glanced at Anya; she must be feeling horrible no doubt. To strip someone of their title was…insulting. Luke couldn't help but feel bad for her. Finding out that he wasn't the real Luke Fon Fabre had been devastating. It may not be the same situation but still…it was close.

Anya's intense gaze remained locked on the table. She couldn't move if she wanted to. This couldn't be. The name and fame she had earned after working for over five back-breaking years, after putting her heart into all her work. It hadn't been easy and she was definitely not about to let go without a fight.

"You're going to believe some stupid _reliable_ source's words?" she looked up at him with a thundery expression.

"A student came as a witness to me; said that she had seen you spending quite a lot of time in Valeth's office as well as his home. What do you think-"

She stood up and banged her fist on the table with an enraged expression, "That's a lie. You believe it if you want but I never did anything _inappropriate_ in the Academy premises. Besides, what I do _outside_ with my _personal life_ is no one's business but mine". She seethed when she was done and sat with her lips pursed and teeth gritted. Anna behind seemed to be having the time of her life.

"You should be glad that no one stripped you of being the Commander yet" he thundered at her and got up to leave, "Have a safe journey". With that he had slammed the door and was gone to the adjacent room.

Anya sat infuriated, distressed, in turmoil. If she wasn't the Instructor Loire, she was nobody. Her identity lay in that name. No one knew her yet as the commander of the mercenary forces. It was all too new. She needed to sort out herself; she decided and got up when Anna's voice chimed in her thoughts.

"Well Sis, guess you want me to apologize" she said sweetly coming closer and holding out her hand. Anya looked up slowly, her eyes darkening dangerously. The next second Anna cried out as she was pinned to the wall with Anya's new dagger against her throat and their faces close.

"Right now" Anya hissed, "The only thing I want right now is for you to have the most possible merciless death EVER" she emphasized the word, "And drop dead". Her eyes glowed with the glint of a murderer and it was worse than watching her scream or scold. No one said anything as they watched Anna struggle helplessly which was saying something as she was quite a skilled martial artist.

"Grandpapa!" Anna screamed out, the door opened and a furious Laguna stepped out.

"What is the meaning of this?" he shouted. Anya drew back with hatred in her eyes, feeling slightly ashamed at losing her tranquility this way.

"So how much did your dear Anna pay to the student for doing her dirty work of lying? Thought of asking that?" she mocked Laguna, equally furious.

"H-how dare you?" he couldn't believe his ears and then, "OUT! Out of this place. NOW!"

"Grandpa-"

"Don't call me that" he shouted in anger and she looked as though he had slapped her, "Don't come anywhere near my granddaughter or any of us again" he said weakly taking hold of Anna's hand. She sniffled and Anya's gaze locked with Laguna's for a few moments and then she sheathed her sword.

"What about Valeth?" she asked quietly, "I guess nothing happens to him".

"No" Laguna told her, "He's the principal and-"

"He's a guy" she interrupted, "I get it". With that she turned o her heel and slammed the door behind her.

Laguna swallowed, wondering if things would ever be the same again. The urge to call her back and give back the Instructor license to her was overwhelming but no one was fair. If he did according to his heart's desire, it would only stand as partiality all over again.

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Sasha walked keeping her distance from Anya with Rin. She had made such a major decision like a relationship without even bothering to talk to them about it. Where was the problem? And what about her being adopted?

"Hey look" someone whispered.

"That's the guy right?"

"You mean the one who lost to us?"

"Yup. That's the same Jade Curtiss" Selphie told the other three students who were dressed in their black uniform.

"You lost to someone?" Luke turned to Jade stopping in his tracks and other did the same.

Jade ignored him and greeted the students, "Why, if it isn't the Goldpine students. You mustn't get so cocky now. I wasn't allowed to fight with all I had and I was outnumbered by four very skilled people, I must admit".

"Oh yeah", a blue haired boy grinned, "It's all thanks to Instructor Loire really- oh sorry", he quickly said noticing the pained look that had crossed Anya's face.

"I-it's alright" she told him with a brittle smile and walked off towards the Emperor's palace, as long as she had something to distract herself with.

"I'll go refill the tank of the aircraft alright?" Selphie chimed in and ran off.

Once the reached the palace they were directed to Emperor Peony's chamber. The first sight was that of a mud splattered floor and Peony cuddling a rappig, two others on his bed. Tear's pupils immediately turned into hearts.

"Oh, it's you guys" he smiled joyously and a sly look at Anya. She remembered that look all too well when she had been here last time, three years ago. He had been hitting on her and she had almost fallen for those beautiful azure eyes and charismatic smile. Almost.

"And who might you two be?" he asked turning to Sasha and Rin who introduced himself.

"You know, beautiful women are always allowed to swing by my place" he told them and turned to the others.

"So, what is it that requires our presence so badly?" Jade asked him directly.

He rolled his eyes "Can't I ask my best friend to drop by once a while?"

"You always have a reason" Jade replied, "And it's always to do with the rappigs".

"Oh god!" Anya suddenly said after observing the cuddled rappig which had a 'Jade' tag around its neck, a little too loudly for not having spoken for a while, "Don't tell me Saphir got Jade pregnant again". Jade looked as though he had been slapped for a moment and then went impassive again.

She turned, frightened to Jade "Jade I'm so-"

"Your Majesty, we must get going now" Jade strode forward, not giving any hint that he had heard Anya at all and realizing this she started playing with her hair.

Sasha and Rin exchanged a look; the moment's hurt look on Anya's face hadn't passed unnoticed. Looked like there were a lot of things the girls had to have a talk about.

When they were outside they saw Selphie waving frantically at them. Anya made sure to keep her distance with Jade as she walked at the rear, alone. No doubt he was pissed off. After all, she had attacked him and then turned them over to their enemies. She had had no other choice. Her lips curved into an ironic smile; that's how it always was, she did what she _had to do,_ she _always_ did what she_ had_ _to do_…, her sorry excuse for all of her mistakes, her misdeeds.

Jade's rejection wasn't supposed to hurt so much right? But it did and she had no answer to the 'why' of the question. Her mind went back to the night in Chesedonia and how he had been there for her. That's how it had been with Lezard even. All he had done was be nice to her and here she was, already seeing things intimately. Jade's actions had meant nothing, merely a gesture of comfort. Was she falling for the unreachable one all over again?

**Well, how was that? Informative? What do you think about Jade being angry with Anya? I didn't want our dear Freya to be forgotten. Reviews as always would be lovely.**


	14. Gelda's lover,Flying high

** ENJOY**

Chapter fourteen

Gelda Nebilim squinted at the brightness of the room as she woke up. Brushing away a blond lock from her eyes, she fingered the ivory net of the four-poster bed curtain. No doubt that the plush bedding, the marbled floor and just about everything to her silk peach dress was his choice. Her young lover had an exotic taste and she didn't mind at all. To him, the fact that she was _actually_ eight years older than him didn't stop him from loving her to the utmost extent. Her own feelings were a completely different issue, she didn't have a perfect idea of love and the only reason she complied with him was because of what he gave her. How many replicas out there were so lucky to have someone care about them, someone who would practically go to any length just to keep them surviving?

She began coughing and at that moment she couldn't help but curse him for leaving her here alone. The coughing increased and so did the breathlessness. Soon she was holding on to the bedpost and coughing out blood, she could feel her organs rupturing. Damn it hurt so badly. Where was he anyway? From behind she suddenly heard his panicked voice call out her name and a second later felt his hands steadying her.

"Here" he whispered, scared for the life of his woman. He shoved a body towards her and she grabbed it by the shoulder where she sunk her canines. Her breathing steadied as she kept drinking in the blood she required. She could feel the taste of the fonons in his blood...Rem. She withdrew and almost collapsed on her lover who squeezed her shoulder gently.

"Are you alright, love? I wasn't too late was I?"

"Everything's just fine. What happened about Jade and his friends?"

"They escaped. That Van couldn't even stop them", he fumed inwardly as did she.

"Forgive me" he whispered in her ear, "I would have pursued at least that Anastacia myself had the timing not been so inconvenient".

"Yes". She brushed her hair back and turned to look at him, "But how long? How long can this keep going on?"

"I will find a way to attain the catalyst weapons. From what Van told me, the duke's son-"

"You mean the replica" she stated. He frowned slightly. If his beloved hadn't been a replica that too an imperfect one, he wouldn't have any problems referring to them as mere imbeciles with no history or life…inferior creatures that would bow down to him as their lord and his Gelda would be at his side as his queen. Ah, life….

"-yes him. Apparently he's leading his companions to the Sephiroths to lower the Outer Lands".

"What does that have to do-" she interrupted impatiently.

"This means that they'll be paying a visit to the Absorption Gate". She looked at him, a little confused and then he added, "The core, where the Planet Storm ends. Where the Key of Lorelei can be retrieved". He finished with a twisted smile; he would have the weapon of the god, the power of one who would rule.

She realized why he was so happy; he almost looked like a child who was resisting the urge to jump in joy for having been offered bushel of candy. But then what about her? She couldn't remain incomplete this way and just let him take over everything, let him follow his warped plans and then maybe leave her alone. No she wouldn't allow that.

"They'll be in contact with the field marshal in St. Binah soon", he told her.

"The ones who sealed me away?" she asked, slightly angered. Really, what had she done wrong? It was how she had to live; kill fonists, skilled fonists who had good amount of fonons absorbed in their blood.

He nodded, "from what Noir told me, they have one of the catalysts".

"So you're still using her?" she asked and he nodded again.

"Don't worry love" he said huskily taking her hand to kiss the back of it. "There really is no other woman on Auldrant for me other than you". She laughed. It wasn't as though she cared; really, as long as she retrieved the Rem and Shadow fonons or rather, he managed to supply her with them she didn't really care about men or anything else for that matter.

"I can't acquire the sorceress powers without being a complete being first" she reminded him.

He sighed, "Yes. But it's rather messy having to assassinate fonists. I can't help but worry about your health".

She shrugged, "It was better off when we used that Freya girl for the job". "Saphir couldn't manage anything either?" He shook his head and began pacing the room's length, his navy blue cloak flying behind him.

She surveyed everything lazily and her eyes fixed on to the mirror. She still had the look of a healthy thirty year old despite the fact that she was really in her mid forties. Truly, if it hadn't been for her young man's invention of cryogenic experiment, she might as well have been old and rotten to death.

"I wonder when I'll get to see dear Jade again" she said planning her revenge on him and observed the frown on her lover's face.

"Gelda-" he hesitated, "Do you have to refer to him by his name? I mean, why not just Necromancer? It-it's just that hearing you talk about any other man that way-" he stopped as soon as he was met by nothing but an icy glare from her.

There he went with his possessiveness again, she thought. Wasn't this enough proof of the fact that he simply wanted to rule her over? Take over? If she wasn't in this weakened state, she might as well have tried putting up a fight with this sorcerer. But then, she would get the Rem and Shadow fonons soon. So maybe once she did…she could try ditching him, leave him to his twisted plans and go forward for all the destructive purposes that life had in store for her. Hmm, not a bad idea…

"I don't want to stay here anymore" she told him. True, he had transformed a part of this crag into something homely but she needed something more. The sense of annihilation and adrenaline pumped through her. It had been quite long since she had handled any blade or cast one of those powerful artes that her original had been able to.

He was surveying her, a little anxious. She seemed to be getting restless and he wished there was something more he could do for her. He still couldn't believe that that Jade had tried to dispose of his Gelda. True, he had wanted the original since he had first seen her at Daath in that Oracle Knight uniform but did that make any difference? _His_ Gelda looked the same and he still wanted her more than anything he had before.

He had seen the replica being sealed away by that Field Marshal, had then seen her almost on the verge of death and that's when he had put his latest ideas into action. Even though her body had remained frozen over a long period of time and he had tried to find a remedy, he hadn't been completely successful. After seven years at twenty one, he had unfrozen the body of his much loved woman and realized that he could keep her going without the catalysts in another way. It was an obsession that drove him crazy…she was his world and her very presence blurred his senses, like now.

She felt him come closer behind her and then closed her eyes as he massaged her shoulders gently and spoke her name lovingly in that caressing tone. Her strap loosened and he ran his lips along the back of her neck. She knew what was going to proceed. Hell, this happened almost all the time and truly, it was one of the things that she enjoyed with him. All the pleasurable moments and every heated feeling had become like a drug and maybe that was one of the other reasons why she wasn't ready to leave him just yet.

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Guy couldn't help but look out the window every now and then. They were _actually_ flying! He didn't know how the others were so silent and unresponsive about it but if he tried saying anything about it, Jade would just silent him with a look. He glanced at the pilot and couldn't help but smile at the skill with which Selphie managed the craft with a concentrated look on her features. She was as anyone would say….cute. Very.

Anya couldn't help but sigh at the silence. It bothered her. At least Elena was safe with grandpa; she would soon be back in Midgard. Sure, she didn't just expect them to start being on friendly terms right away but what about her best friends? She glanced at Rin who looked away immediately at the opposite direction.

"Sasha" Anya slowly called almost expecting that cold glare that was capable of making anyone want to dig the ground and bury themselves. The brunette in question turned to her.

"Hmm?"

Anya sighed and asked directly. "Do you want me to tell you everything myself?" Sasha nodded and then faced her, so did Rin.

"Ask me something" she told them, "I don't know where to start from".

"Okay", Rin started after tucking a strand of dark hair away from her tanned face.

"Why didn't you tell us about being adopted? How did you just meet up with this famous Head of Garnet City?"

"Yeah" Sasha continued, "I mean he has grandchildren already. Why would he want to adopt any more?"

"Whoa!" Anya almost smiled at the sudden outburst of questions, "Firstly, I didn't just meet up with grandpa". She could feel the others' eyes upon her but she ignored them. "My parents died when I was around fourteen" she said softly. Her best friends looked slightly ashamed at their recent attitude.

"I-I really don't know what happened because I kind of-" she hesitated and then said it, "I lost my memory of everything before Valeth took me to grandpa". She paused and then continued.

"I don't know how or why, but Van took me to an orphanage after that. Lezard saw me practicing a bit of karate I knew and just took me to visit Laguna for my admission at Garnet City. At the time he used to live alone so he took me in after a few days of watching me at school. Valeth informed me about my parents' death but things were well enough so I didn't have that much of a hard time".

"You knew Master Van?" Luke asked earning a glare from almost everyone but Anya nodded.

"But a month later, grandpa's daughter, Zell's mom died and then grandpa took them in so we started living as a family. Their parents were divorced" she added to clear out any questions left.

She didn't tell them about how the affair had started. It was simple really; he had done everything to make her recover from her previous distressing experiences and she had, like any other girl who liked a charming prince-like man with great manners and adoration in every word, fallen for him. Maybe at eighteen things had been one-sided or so she had thought but a little later, he himself had made her life worth living its every day. At one time she had been his pupil; it had certainly seemed wrong to feel anything of _that _sort for him but as she got promoted, mainly because Lezard had pointed out how suitable she was for the vacant Instructor's position, she hadn't minded hitting it off with him.

"You don't have your memory of your past?" Anise asked her, something familiar ringing in her mind.

"Yes" Jade talked more to himself, "It sounds rather like Luke's story".

"I-I'm not a replica" Anya blurted out.

Luke looked at her, "Hey, It's alright to be like that. I mean no one would like to accept that-"

"Luke", Anya smiled at him gently, "Look, I know it sounds that way but it's… a little more complicated".

"The replica issue is pretty complicated" he muttered but let it go.

"So, what's so complicated?" Natalia asked her curiously.

"I'll explain some day later" she replied, "We've got enough of problems already without my own" she said rubbing her left arm as though someone had hit her.

"What's up?" Sasha asked but Anya brushed it off with a 'nothing'. It was never good when Anya said that.

"You know, the last time you kept something from us-" Tear started but Anya interrupted.

"It won't happen again. Just trust me this once" she said and turned away, signaling that she was done talking.

Luke kept his distance from Guy, not because he didn't trust him but because he didn't want Guy to have to deal with anything unwanted. He himself had admitted that he wasn't completely over the incidents even now. _Well, looks like I have to deal with something unwanted fin return._

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Elena blew out her bangs from her eyes as she opened the lid of the wooden crate once again. The lack of air inside the box was rather suffocating and it was so damned dusty! She withdrew in the tiny box as she was overwhelmed by another bout of sneezes.

"Acchhooo. Aaacchhhooo!"

She poked her head out again into the humming of the aircraft's engines and dull conversation noises from the front. Her legs had lost feeling in them long ago and she wished they reached St. Binah soon. At least she would be able to stretch her legs; even though Anya would be a little…she didn't want to think about it.

This was the advantage of being small for your age, she thought, you had the brains of a ten year old but the tiny body of a seven year old so that you could hide almost anywhere, preferably somewhere that wasn't dusty. "Acchhoo".

Someone…Jade! He was saying something about some disturbance at the back. She panicked and hid inside but fell weakly against the box in relaxation when she heard Selphie's cheerful shout.

"Let's get going to save the world! We're there guys" and the Terracon landed gently with a bump.

**This chapter is a little shorter than my latest ones; I originally intended this to be longer. But I've got my exams these two coming weeks so I'll be taking a little break from my precious story. I do care about my studies enough not to abandon it for. My reviewers, keep reviewing and reading like the pretty people we all are and I'll be back with a much longer chapter soon**.


	15. Murder,dreams and loneliness

Chapter fifteen

"What do we tell the people?" Luke asked as soon as they exited the aircraft.

Jade answered immediately, "We'll visit Field Marshal Mc Govern and discuss this with him right away. We'll explain the situation in detail". It seemed as though he had planned everything onboard.

They made their way into the citadel and Jade decided that he should go in with Luke, Ion and Natalia for the discussion while the others gathered the citizens and prepared for departure.

Once inside, they were greeted heartily by the funny old man, "Oh hello Jade. So you're alive? You were reported to have been dead and who is this with you?" he squinted at Luke and his son frowned.

"We were informed that princess Natalia and Luke Fon Fabre had perished along with Akzeriuth also", he told them with a suspicious look at the two.

"So it seems" Jade said, "We've been keeping a low profile actually. Yes, Fon Master Ion is here as well" he motioned as the older Mc. Govern looked questioningly.

"Currently, the soldiers have broken through Kaitzur already" Glenn Mc Govern told them, "It won't be long before they actually make it here".

"What about the citizens?" Older asked his son in an angry tone, "We need to-"

"You know very well father, we cannot act without His Majesty's orders", Glenn returned.

"Actually" Ion stepped up, "We've got the orders from Emperor Peony".

"And just what did he say?" the older man asked.

"Try to have the civilians take refuge in the direction of Engeve", Natalia responded.

"But what about St. Binah?" older Mc. Govern asked, "We'll just abandon it?"

"This city's defense will…" Glenn left it there.

"This place won't last much longer. Our priority is to evacuate the citizens" Jade told them and they nodded.

"I'll immediately convey the message to the Townspeople", Glenn told them and hurried away.

"Alright guys" Luke turned to them as soon as they were outside, "We'll have to check the entire town to make sure nobody's left behind".

Jade sighed, "Evacuating an entire population is rather a backbreaking job".

"Yeah" Anise nodded, "People could seriously panic, and you've got to make things very clear".

"Okay" Luke chirped in again, clearly formulating his own thoughts on the subject, "Women and children should go first, right? Oh and the elderly too" he added with a glance at Jade.

"Yes, that works" he replied.

"And don't forget the injured?" Natalia piped in, clearly wanting to do the perfect thing as a responsible princess.

"Okay, I'll get them on carts-" Luke broke off as soon as he saw Guy coming in their direction, "Come on, let's check over there" he pulled Guy by the hand in his direction.

"My, Luke certainly has thrown me a bit off-balance by helping out so much", Jade told them.

"Yes, he's better off this way" Anise agreed, "Although he looks like a complete idiot worked up like that".

"I think he's doing an absolutely great job" Natalia said, "But again, maybe he's just keeping himself busy so as not to dwell upon Akzeriuth".

"There's a possibility" Jade replied, "But as long as he's-"

"Hey!" Luke's shout interrupted them, "Don't stand around like idiots. Come and help here, will you?"

"Ha-ha" Jade laughed, "Now we've become idiots as well" Natalia managed a smile and moved onto heal the injured as much as she could without damaging herself.

Senior Mc. Govern looked impressed at the Terracon saying he had never quite seen anything like this before, "I'm more than sure that my citizens will be absolutely safe" he told his son as the children getting onboard were being hushed by the ladies. The men were too busy helping up their loved ones onto the vehicle or else they might just have plunged into a discussion about the Terracon.

"Oooh!" Tear heard a little boy exclaim from nearby and turned around to see him goggling up at the vehicle. She was about to direct him towards it when a crash was heard and she looked up to see a giant robot threateningly snapping its lobster-like clamps at them. The little boy saw this and his smile vanished as he fell on his bump from the impact of the giant robot's feet with the ground.

"Run!" Jade told him as he began a fonic arte along with Tear. Luke heard the disturbance and immediately dropped off the elderly man whom he had been giving a piggyback in the aircraft and dashed towards the boy who was still cowering on the ground. The red head blocked an attack that was about to come down on the boy and Guy picked him up to head to the Terracon. The others immediately arrived in time to hear a very familiar laugh.

"Dist! You never could tell when you were unwanted" Jade told him dryly.

"Humph. Say whatever you like Jade" he said, "What I want right now is that you hand over the fon Master. NOW!"

"I doubt the colonel would be threatened by an insect" Anise muttered and Dist growled angrily at her.

"Most importantly right now, move that thing" Jade motioned towards the robot.

"Grrr. That's my darling Kaiser Dist RX" Dist shouted, "Don't call it a thing". Luke couldn't help rolling his eyes but was forced to get into a battle stance when Dist activated his robot and flew away somewhere.

"Damn it!" Guy blocked an attack, "How'd he do that? He didn't even need to get inside the robot to make it work".

"Well, Dist _is _pretty smart you know?" Sasha said and dodged a bullet that had backfired on her from some sort of reflecting surface on its body.

"Yup!" Anise chimed in, "He built Tokunaga for me".

"Really?" Rin seemed surprised.

"Doesn't look it though, does he?" Anya smirked. They had fought Dist's machine before, they knew it wouldn't be a problem. But at the moment time just wasn't on their side.

"We've gotta stop this thing fast" Luke shouted as one of its clamps got his right arm.

"Yes" Jade agreed passing on an apple gel, "By the time the Terracon comes back, this place might already be down".

"Cold glare of death! Frigid Moon!" Guy stabbed its joints.

"Goodness, this is tough" Rin exclaimed after some time. She wasn't used to this kind of thing damn it! Tear cast first aid and Natalia stopped any attempts of attacks directed towards the Fon Master.

"O admonishing melody, arise in the name of the Necromancer! Mystic Cage! Now know what true power is!" Jade's mystic arte ended up making the robot going completely haywire.

"What the-" Rin exclaimed.

"YAY! Go colonel" Anise whooped accompanied with a jump.

"He's so cool isn't he?" came a cheerful voice from behind Anise and Tear's eyes were wide as she saw the new comer first.

"W-what are you-no!" she had been about to ask what she was doing but Dist had just snatched Elena, flying out of nowhere.

"Haahhhhaaa!" he laughed victoriously as all their eyes were now focused on the little form struggling with Dist who held her suspended in the air. "So, what happens next hmm?" he drawled. He looked down at the little girl, "Stop playing hide-and-seek with me".

"Dist! Child abuse is something I'll certainly never approve of" Jade looked up at them, "Hand her over very carefully".

"Hand her over carefully" Dist mimicked Jade, "How about this? You give me the Fon Master-"

"As if!" Luke muttered.

"Dist" Anya stepped forward, "Don't dare do anything to my sister or else I'll tell them about _that_ thing". His smile vanished as he looked at her with an indignant expression.

"N-no you won't. I-it's not fair" he said in a childish voice, "H-hey! That's mine!" he shouted pointing at her long coat.

Anya shrugged, "It looks better on me anyway". Luke and Guy couldn't help but groan. Really, Dist was probably the only God-general with whom they actually _wasted_ time.

"Natalia. NOW!" Jade's command came and Anya turned just in time to see Natalia shoot an arrow at Dist's hand. He screamed in a girlish voice and let go of Elena. She would've hit the ground hard if Jade's strong grip hadn't gotten her by the collar right then.

"Well then" he started as if nothing had happened as he still held Elena suspended few inches off the ground, "We should be off too, the rest of the citizens will need to be taken out also".

"Next time I see you Jade, I am going to be incredibly angry- hey! Don't ignore me" he shouted to the retreating group, "I am not done talking. Grrr where's my revenge journal". He began looking for it but then squealed and flew away as Jade ordered some of his soldiers to arrest Dist.

Jade sighed and carefully dropped Elena on her feet, "Chase after him although I'm sure it's pointless".

"We must really- aaahh!" Natalia began but suddenly the ground began shaking, very hard as if –

"It's an earthquake" Jade warned, confirming their thoughts.

"Natalia!" Guy's shout reached the princess's ears just as she felt the ground beneath her feet crack. There were shouts and gasps from everyone.

She lost her footing and saw Guy few feet from her. He stood enveloped in shock, hating himself for the phobia. He couldn't help her and even though he strode forward in a hurried pace, everything was dreamlike to him. The ground began parting just where Natalia's feet were and the area behind her was sinking and so was she along with it.

"Move!" a loud voice cried out from behind him and the next moment a red blur dashed by, bumping to him, the impact making him sway sideways.

"Aaaaah!"

She was already falling behind but he caught her hand in a strong grip and pulled her away from the cliff like part. She was shaking all over and he gently brushed her hair away from her face before letting go of her, making sure that she could stand on her own.

"Asch, t-thank you" she said in a surprised but shaky voice. He didn't seem to have heard her as he rounded on Guy with a dangerous look on his face.

"You idiot" he shouted as he advanced upon his former servant, "what the hell were you doing there just standing?"

"Asch!" Natalia started in a weak voice, "It's not his fault-"

"Natalia could have died because of you." He shouted with hands trembling in rage, "So it's a girl. What's the big deal? Get over that stupid phobia already". Natalia had her hand over her mouth; he had gone a little too far with that comment.

Guy merely continued to look at Asch with a cold demeanor. Yes, maybe he hadn't been able to play the gallant hero. So what? It wasn't as if he didn't repent his condition. The old resentment for the duke's son burnt inside, made him mad and just as vengeful as he once had been.

"You know Asch" he started slowly, "Right now I'm glad I helped Van in your kidnapping". There were shocked outbursts especially from Luke.

"Guy! That's not-"

"I'm only saying what the truth is" Guy replied and walked away from Asch.

"If I hadn't" he continued, "Then today, the Fabre family wouldn't have been living to see this day".

"You mean" Anise asked in a scared voice, "That you would have killed them all off?"

Rin and Sasha gave a quizzical look to Anya who mouthed 'later'.

Guy nodded and was about to answer when Jade interrupted, "Could we save this scuffle for later? We have to rescue the rest of the citizens".

"Yes" Tear agreed, putting an arm around Natalia, "But with the Terracon engaged now, we'll have to go to Engeve on foot but-" she looked at the remaining citizens, "To get them out first I'll have to use a fonic hymn".

"No" Jade disagreed, "There are too many people to rescue with your hymns".

"Aww" Anise looked downcast, "I so wish we could fly now".

"Actually there's an alternative to the Terracon" Guy spoke up and everyone turned to him, "I heard they were conducting some aviation experiments in Sheridan".

"But even so, we'll have to walk to Kaitzur so we could get a ferry" Anya pointed out, "And that's going to take us around three days or so".

"If I recall", Tear said, "Van told me that the exact thing happened to Hod and it took a month for it to sink".

"We are going to have to do something" Luke spoke up in a commanding tone, "We'll only regret later if we just sit by and watch".

"We don't have to walk" Asch told them in a grumpy tone walking away towards the exit of the city, "I have the Tartarus outside".

"You do?" Natalia asked in awe.

"How else did you expect me to travel around?" he returned rather rudely as if it was the simplest answer and Natalia shrunk slightly.

"Field Marshal McGovern" Jade turned to them, "We'll arrive for the rest of you here in a few days' time".

"I can't believe this" Anise spoke up, looking outside at St. Binah once they were inside the dreadnought, "If only we could've kicked away Dist faster".

"Yeah well" Anya answered, "We _might_ have been able to save the rest of them too if a certain someone hadn't just come along uninvited" she said in an icy tone that was no doubt directed at her sister. Elena cringed as she looked up at Anya, wanting to apologize but she had turned her attention away towards the panels of the ship.

* * *

"Commandant!" Legretta strode inside his office at the headquarters of Order of Lorelei, "Sync has lost sight of Asch. Apparently, he is now using the Tartarus for his travels". Van acknowledged her presence and dismissed the soldier who had been taking his signatures on some papers that he didn't care about much at the moment.

"Van" Legretta's voice softened as she came closer and sat opposite to him, "Don't you think we should try making Tear see our way once again before you end up deciding to fight her?"

Van sighed as a sudden pained look crossed his usually unreadable features, "I did not wish for things to come to this but…" Legretta's eyes still had the cold look but beneath them she felt something stir in her, she wanted to comfort him. How could she? She was feeling for the man who had been the reason for her own brother's death? She was worrying for that man's very own sister through whom she had wanted to achieve revenge?

She got up and walked over to his side, "Van. I will go look for them again and try getting both Asch and Tear to our side". She put a hand over the side of his face and he closed his eyes at the touch. He wondered if it was a wise choice to let his heart take over after all these years. He had known it. In fact they both had felt something coming up…something neither of them had stepped aside from.

"I'll get going then" her voice interrupted his thoughts and he nodded, dismissing the woman on her mission, the woman who had become to mean much much more than just an assistant, an enemy.

* * *

_She was walking stealthily, feline steps treading the soft carpet of the lone woman whose children slept in the adjacent room. She felt for the door and opened it gently, never making a single sound as she made her way towards the hunched figure of a twenty-five year old woman. She was reading by the light of a burning lamp and stiffened as the young girl came up behind her with a dead look._

"_Don't do this" the woman screamed pleadingly looking at the girl, "You mustn't. Why must you, a child-". But the young assassin only continued to twirl her blade in her left hand._

"_I must do this" was all she said before hitting the woman unconscious and then slit __her throat to get over with this inhumanely ordeal as fast as possible. At least she __was merciful. Her mistress didn't approve of it at all; her motto was to kill as brutally__ as possible. The more blood the better. She gasped as sounds from the next room__ were heard and quickly decided to leave. Her vision was black, she couldn't see __anything but she made her way out carefully picking on the sounds._

Anya's eyes fluttered open as her heart still pounded in her chest. She sat up on the bed of the Tartarus cabin which she was sharing with her best friends. She rubbed her forehead in trepidation. What had that been? A nightmare? A vision? This was how she had come to know about the incident with Mr. Karros. Was this perhaps a part of her memory that she had lost? It had felt so real, she almost felt as though she had been the person in the dream. But then….was she a killer? A murderer? She couldn't help feeling sick and wondered

how long it would be before she could have other company than the darkness. How was it possible to get back memory from something like this? Maybe this time she had really just had a nightmare. Pulling the curtains aside, she relaxed as the sun came up and even more when she heard a knock at the door.

The group met up within half an hour at the control room and started up immediately. Jade informed them that being stationery in one area for long could be dangerous and Asch had seemed intent on getting as far away possible from Guy and _the replica._

After two hours of uncomfortably engulfing silence mainly because of the tension between the three younger boys and also the Loire siblings, an alarm suddenly went off. Sasha looked up at the red lights that suddenly began blinking with constant warning noise.

"What's happening? Is it an intruder?" she asked and Jade nodded.

Luke cursed under his breath, "Why does something like this come up when we are short of time?"

"Who could it be though?" Natalia asked in wonder, "At this time of the day".

"I'm going to the bridge" Jade told them and left immediately, Guy tailing behind him.

Everyone followed the two, armed incase their opponents were more sinister than just bandits...

Unfortunately they were.

"Major!" Tear let out surprised. The stoic woman turned shot at Luke but he deflected the bullet and pushed away Tear who was right behind him.

"We have to get out of here" Jade's warning shout reached their ears and they retreated, throwing an attack here and there at Legretta who was outnumbered but still kept on with them.

"You're not going anywhere" she shouted out but the group was already much ahead of her. She stopped slowly and stood on the field from where she watched the group leave. She would get them somewhere else…somewhere advantageous. Next stop would be Sheridan.

**My updates might be a little slower now as I'm a little clouded by cardcaptors, Silenthill 5 and some new games.I'll keep writing reviewing.**


	16. Demise of a friend,hatred of another

**Long time no update. Anyway just a little message, I know OCs can be confusing but they are there mainly as supporting characters to bring out Anya's character alryt? This chapter gets a little angsty later** **and well, we come to know something else about Anya here.Enjoy. **

Chapter sixteen

Legretta wondered if she should have followed the group but then again she would clearly be at disadvantage. If she had to launch an assault then it better be when they were in a weakened condition. She would now have to meet up with the commandant again for her next instructions. If there was something she had learnt in years by remaining at Van's side, it was to never to carry out anything without consultation from him.

More importantly, there was going to be a meeting within a day or two about appointing the new God-General, depending on how well the commandant carried out his plan. She took the Tartarus just incase the group returned here, then their poor resolve to save these score-bound cockroaches would have to wait due to the delay.

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"Do...you think we…are safe now?" Anise panted as she tried to keep up with the rest of them while occasionally slowing down for Ion whom she was dragging along.

"I can't go on anymore" Rin whined, wanting nothing more than to simply stop for a good rest.

"It's been more than fifteen…min…utes" Luke's complain turned to a whisper at the end as he fought to breathe.

"There's no guarantee that Legretta's gone" Asch responded in that tone of his which suggested that he was currently travelling with a bunch of irritating idiots. Hell, he didn't even look tired, just intent on saving himself.

"I…just can't-" Natalia clutched a stitch at her side and sank down on her knees. Asch stopped immediately and was by her side before anyone else. The others stopped abruptly and a frown crossed across Asch's features as Natalia's head fell onto his chest.

"That's enough for now" he told them putting a blushing Natalia into a more comfortable position, "We'll stop here for the moment".

"You're a lot more agreeable when Natalia is the subject" Jade stated with that smirk of his that made Asch scowl and Natalia blush even more.

"Finally" Anise let out, "Come on Ion, you should get all the rest you can" she pulled him by the sleeve towards the cooler areas.

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"I don't get it Anya" Rin looked downright pissed off, "How could you get together with Lezard knowing what he's like?"

"Anya, please tell me you didn't tell him about Tristan" Sasha stated with that piercing stare of hers. Anya looked away, not wanting to discuss the topic but they wanted answers.

"No, he still doesn't know" she replied back still avoiding their eyes which she could feel drilling into her head.

"At least you're doing something right" Rin commented with a sneer and this completely angered Anya to no end.

"Yeah well" she said in a soft, controlled voice, "I'm sorry I'm not perfect".

"Anya" Sasha put a hand on her shoulder, "Look, Lezard's just not worth it. Why does it always have to be you going through everything for him? I'm not saying you don't have your mistakes but-"

"I know" she interrupted, pushing away Sasha's hand, "I'll try not to make any more stupid mistakes again alright?" she directed this at Rin who still looked like she wanted to say something.

"Anya" she called when she had turned away, "whatever you do, don't ever go back to him. Something's just not right about him. I don't know what it is but please-" she grabbed Anya's elbow with a fierce look, "Don't let him know about Tristan. I don't mind if you even go for Jade or Luke for that matter but not Lezard. Please". Anya nodded wondering why Rin had gone so passionate about the whole issue but the look on her face was pleading and she couldn't say no to her best friend.

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"Really Anise, I'm fine" he told her with that soft smile of his which only made her all the guiltier for being such a traitor. Why? Why did it have to be her? Why Ion? He didn't deserve this. She only hoped that in the end somehow she could explain everything and apologize to Ion…if Ion remained alright that is.

"Anise?" Ion's kind, soft voice broke into her thoughts and she looked up with saddened eyes. He looked at her questioningly, "Is something the matter?" She looked into those trusting green eyes and smiled with a shake of her head. The smile felt plastered and so damned fake but she gave a reassuring squeeze to his hand and pointed towards a small lake-like area where she ran away with Tokunaga bouncing on her back.

"Ion! Come here" she shouted out to the green haired boy who had been watching her frolicking in the water after taking off her shoes with a smile he didn't know had been there. When Anise was in high spirits, then so was he. Was this how friends were supposed to feel for each other; always want nothing more than to please them because his happiness lay where Anise's did. Anise always cared, always did what a best friend should do. She was the one who always reminded everyone including himself about his safety, always so concerned about his well-being. If she only knew...He didn't like hiding the truth from everyone but…there was nothing to do about it.

"Hey guys!" came a call from Elena behind Ion, "Everyone's discussing something" and she immediately trotted off the way she had come.

"If it wasn't for Luke, the new Luke" Guy was already talking to the others, keeping his gaze downwards, "I really wouldn't have reconsidered my decision. I swore to avenge Hod's destruction along with Van. That was my original purpose for entering Duke Fabre's home".

"Guy…" Luke didn't find anything to say and Tear laid a comforting hand on his shoulder as Guy continued.

"Even now" he looked up with a sigh, "I don't know what's right. I just wish-" he broke off.

"That you retrieved the missing part of your memory?" Jade stated softly and Guy nodded.

"Maybe that could give me some answers as to why I wanted revenge so badly" he said, "Honestly, sometimes I think that if I had taken a slightly different path somewhere, I might as well have been on Van's side". This statement earned a few gasps and disbelieving gestures.

"Guy!" Natalia's cry rang out, "You can't be serious".

"Yeah" Anise stated in a slightly scared voice, "You're talking about the God-Generals right?"

"It doesn't matter" Luke interrupted as he stood, indicating that this discussion was over, "Guy's going to remain with us. I trust him and for that reason we'll give him a chance. If he changes his mind then…" he couldn't continue. It scared him to no end, sickened him too. How would he ever be able to fight his best friend if he turned against them?

He walked away to where he had seen Anise earlier, not too far to be out of sight but enough to cut yourself off from the others.

_If you'd only went left instead of taking that right  
If you had waited just ten more minutes to leave _

_The star light fade away  
Crying now  
There is no way to feel  
Sadness that makes me down_

_One more day to regret_

He was sitting beside the small lake where he dipped his left hand into the water, a thousand thoughts running through his head. The nightmares still haunted him every night…Akzeriuth, the faces of those people he had met then. Imaginary voices shrieking and pulling him down with them as the once prosperous city collapsed. He was the criminal behind its fall, the one who had killed all those people. Innocents who had paid for Van's scheme…children.

_It'll wear you down and wear you down_

_They'll push you up against the wall, against the wall  
You didn't think you'd feel it all but you were wrong about it..._

"Luke" came a small voice from behind but he didn't need to look up from the surface of the clear water that failed to show the scars deep within as Tear came and sat beside him.

"Why?" he asked distantly, "Do you think Guy would ever really-"

"Luke" she scolded, "You said it yourself; you trust him. I don't see any reason to be worried". When he didn't look assured she took his hand, surprising even herself, "It's you who's changed him. Maybe he has lingering feelings about it but who can blame him?" He looked at their hands and intertwined his with hers with slight trepidation, expecting her to push him away for trying to get so close.

Tear thought about the person who was now beside her. He had changed, very much. It was almost like watching a small whiny young boy grow up and then looked at him, "Just think how you felt about Akzeriuth. When grandfather told you that nothing had been done, no preventive measures taken because its destruction was written in the Score, just remember how you felt Luke".

He pondered on this for a few seconds, "I was upset, angry. It annoyed me to see the mayor taking it so lightly, like it was the most normal thing ever happening. It pissed me off completely knowing that a part the whole event could have been avoided but because it was _written in the_ _Score_, no one bothered. To hell with the Score!" he seethed angrily in a loud voice enough to attract slight attention from the others far away.

Tear nodded encouragingly, "Don't you think that's what happened with Guy? Isn't this how you'd expect him to feel about the whole subject of Hod's destruction?" He looked back at her as he realized this and then smiled slightly.

"Thanks Tear" he told her, surprising her a little. "If you hadn't been here to explain things to me, I dunno what I might have cooked up in my head about this issue. We have to give Guy some time".

"You idiot" was all she was able to get out when Luke suddenly brushed off her bangs lightly from her eyes.

"You know Tear" he cocked his head to a side, "Guy was right".

"A-about what?" she asked in a slightly shaky voice. Thankfully she still hadn't lost her speech which she would soon for whatever reason…

He shrugged with a smile, "Never mind. It's nothing". She continued to look at him with her usual expressionless look as her bangs fell into their place once again and he stuttered, "It's just t-that-" he brushed them away again with a frown, "-I think it looks better on you this way. You have-" he turned away, blushing, wondering if he should continue. It was like trying to approach a sleeping lion. "-your eyes are really beautiful Tear, that's all. They're never visible with all that hair on your face. I-I mean it's not up to me how you do-" he tried to cover up the comment thinking it might have offended her when she pulled back her hand.

"You idiot" she said again but with a smile and hint of red that was easily missed. She stood up to leave but continued to look down at him where he was tracing circles on the ground.

"What?" he asked when she hadn't left.

"You've grown" she told him, "You're not at all how you used to be before. The first time I met you, I never thought I would be able to like you at all".

"Does that mean you like me now?" he asked, a little too eagerly and then realized his mistake, "I mean, yeah. I used to be such a brat back then".

"And you aren't now?" she asked him with that childish look where her visible eye was very wide.

"H-hey!" he said indignantly and she laughed. They stopped talking when they saw Asch nose to nose with Rin who looked offended.

"God. All I did was ask a question. If you can't freaking answer it then-"

"Guys" Anya came between them and pulled off Asch by the back of his dress who seemed offended at being handled this way and pushed her hand away roughly. "Enough with this already".

"What happened here?" Luke asked them when he saw that no one looked distressed, despite Asch's behavior they just saw now.

"When the two of you were away for a little lover's chat" Jade told them with that wicked grin of his, "Katharine here made a remark that set off Asch completely".

"Colonel" Tear exclaimed coldly, "We were not having a lover's chat. The very idea is ridiculous" with that she strode off towards the other girls leaving a slightly hurt Luke where Guy came and slapped his back playfully.

"Well, Rin here" Ion started when no one else said anything, "Said that she didn't get everything we talked about, she was a little lost. Then she asked if Luke and Asch were twins". He didn't need to continue anymore as Luke and Tear both understood what had probably happened. Asch had till now displayed nothing much except the fact that he hated Luke. The reason alone that he was his replica was enough for him although that was quite irrational to a third person. To be called his brother must have definitely hurt his pride somehow.

Asch and Rin were now glaring daggers at each other and if looks could kill, the two would have been bleeding to painful death already.

"I don't get one thing though" Sasha said out loud when the tension was getting too high, "I thought Jade was a colonel".

"You think?" he asked in mock hurt.

"You wear glasses" she said, "Since when do people with bad eye sight get promoted to high ranks?"

"Yeah Jade" Guy stated, taking a seat beside Luke, "I've been wondering about that or a while".

He sighed, "These glasses are not for poor vision, they're to control my fonic artes". When they didn't seem to understand he sighed impatiently again. How he hated explaining things…

"These glasses have a fonon-regulating effect. Without these my fonic artes can go out of control".

"Why the eyes though?" Natalia asked.

"The eyes are the most powerful fon slots in our body" Tear told her, "But applying the fonic sight is a very dangerous technique. Without supervision, the toll on a person can also cause death".

"So Jade's not human?" Elena asked and suddenly snatched the glasses from Jade's face. Anya looked ready to go slap her.

Elena held up four fingers in front of his face, "How many can you see?" He laughed at the girl's attitude and took back his glasses.

"Yes? What is it?" he asked when he saw all the ladies in the place staring at him like he was some unearthly being. They all turned away, all of them red in the face.

"I always thought the Colonel looked young for his age, but when he takes his glasses off, he looks even younger... actually, he looks really..." Anise looked up at him from where she was sitting with large starry eyes.

"Yes, he has a rather beautiful face without the glasses, doesn't he" Natalia commented.

Sasha nudged Rin in the elbows who couldn't seem to take her eyes off Jade, "I bet you wish you weren't taken now huh?"

"You have no idea" she whispered back and then turned to Anya who tried not to stare at him like the rest of them. "He's Anya's man though…"

"What?" she turned to her best friends who were grinning.

"Well" Sasha said airily, "You do have a soft spot for _older_ men you know".

Rin continued with a wicked grin dismissing the growing pain in the shoulders. "Lezard, Emperor Peony and now…Ja-"

"Sh-shut up!" Anya said with a burning face.

"And here I thought I had a beautiful face even with the glasses" she heard Jade remark sarcastically. _Obnoxious. Bigheaded. Arrogant. Idiot_.

"We've rested here for quite long" Asch broke in, "We should get going. Natalia, that okay with you?" She nodded and they all started once again, trying to somehow find a way to Sheridan before it was too late.

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"Dist" he said in that hissing voice of his, "Have you not managed to obtain anything regarding Gelda's recovery yet?"

Dist shook his head, still sitting in his chair, but on the ground this time. He didn't dare take a position where he looked down at him or fly away in front of this guy. The black hooded man with his dangerously whispering voice frightened him. And hell, Dist was one to scare away easily.

"I will try invading the Malkuth Headquarters" he told the man, "I just need the perfect timing err-" he had never gotten his name.

"I am the Snake of the Shadows" he replied deeply, "I am known as XuanWu". Dist knew this couldn't possibly be his actual name but left it at that when he turned around to see someone entering the room.

"Freya" XuanWu drawled and Dist looked as though someone had struck him with something heavy.

"Y-you look-"

"I know" Freya said in a cold voice, flipping her dark sheet of hair behind, "Where's Van? I want to see him regarding the God-General position".

"So you're the new one?" Dist asked, finally getting his speech back even though Freya was just as freaky as XuanWu. He still couldn't get over the shock though, Freya was…

She didn't think she needed to answer that and XuanWu dismissed Dist who looked indignant at being treated like a servant. He was the beautiful blooming Rose after all…

"So Freya" XuanWu turned to her once Dist had flown away talking to himself, "Have you contacted Anastacia lately?"

"Yeah" she said, "She seems a little confused by all the visions I've been giving her when she's sleeping mainly. But I might try seeing what happens when she's awake though".

"Nightmares? Ha-ha, you are one fine young woman" he told her and she shrugged.

"Freya" came a deep voice from behind and she turned to see a russet haired man with a ponytail accompanied by a beautiful young blonde.

"Van?" she asked and he nodded. He was one of the only people apart from mother she could still care about. Even after years of separation, she felt all those deep friendly feelings she had once as a child.

She strode forward and embraced him, they both with smiles of contentment.

"It's been a while" he said breaking away.

She nodded, "seventeen years".

"I'm sorry to do this but you must see what the Score is making the people do to our loved ones".

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"It's your mother-"

"Is she still in Keterburg?"

"Yes" he said in a grave tone that chilled her and she ran outside with Van following behind. He hoped the oracle soldiers would be there in time for the execution.

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"It's late" Tear voiced out after hours of walking without rest.

"Must be nearing midnight" Rin said moodily, "My feet are killing me. We have to stop".

"It's nowhere near midnight. The sun just set what, two hours back" Anise reasoned. Luke couldn't help but look at Rin who grumbled to herself, she reminded him of himself before Akzeriuth.

"Let's rest here for tonight" Jade suggested and this was met with thanked gestures.

"Let's light a fire alright?" Sasha pleaded. Her shorts were nowhere as warm as the others' clothes and dark open places where monsters lurked for food was not a very comfortable thought.

"That'll be good. I have to write a letter to grandpa" Anya said.

"Informing him about Len?" Sasha asked and she nodded.

"Yeah well" Rin smiled after a long time, "He is your grandpa you know. I bet he's already come down with a fever for worrying so much".

"You bet" Anya grinned.

Jade applied a fonic arte to the pile of wood Guy and Luke had gathered and they all sat around it, Jade standing as was most of the time.

"You notice something Anya?" Sasha asked after she laid down with her hands behind her head with a glance at Rin.

"If you're talking about our pretty miss here, yeah. She's been a lot more moody than usual" Anya replied with slight anxiousness. In truth, Rin was never whiny about anything.

"Are you guys talking about me?" Rin turned to them with mock anger as she scratched her left arm with a scowl. "What the hell is happening?"

"Maybe you got bit by one of those itchy insects" Anise suggested and Luke laughed out.

Any phenomenon more than the usual was never good. But again, her bad mood might just be something normal too. That was the problem with people who knew too much, Jade thought; everything had to have a reason, anything unusual had to mean something bad. But he couldn't help noticing the way Rin had seemed in pain at times…

Asch had left off for some solitude which worried Natalia very much. "Maybe I should just go check on him a bit" she said getting up.

"Are you sure you want to go alone?" Guy asked her. She nodded with a smile and went away. Luke was going through something that looked like a book by the light of the fire.

"You thing" he shouted at Mieu whom he extracted from his bag and threw on the ground earning him a shove from an angry Tear.

"He's been writing all over my diary" he told her, still annoyed. Mieu looked at him with large eyes.

"You forgot to write for two days so I completed it for you Master".

"Cheagles know fonic language?" Rin asked, a little impressed but keeping her distance from Mieu who nodded vigorously.

"Luke, if you write a diary then you probably know what's the exact date today right?" Anya asked.

He shuffled through the pages, "Um yeah, 15th no- yeah, here it is. Today's 17th Ifrit Redecan" he told her and she sighed heavily as she drew her knees up to her chest and placed her head over them.

"Now I definitely have to write to Midgard" she said.

"But I don't think Gramps is there yet Anya" Elena said reasonably. Anya shrugged, "He'll get it when he reaches home then".

Elena suddenly gasped, "I know why you want to write to Grandpa so badly. It's Tristan's birthday today right?"

Sasha and Rin both turned to Anya and hugged her. "So sorry, I forgot about it" Rin apologized.

"It's okay" Anya replied back.

"Who's Tristan?" Guy asked politely. Before anyone else could answer, Elena had already opened her big mouth.

"He's actually my nephew but he's more of a younger brother to me, Anya's son" she announced and immediately realizing her mistake covered her face in her hands.

Plain shock was written on everyone's face as they turned to Anya who looked frozen. Sasha peeked at Anya and saw her lips pursed into a thin line.

"Son-?" Guy choked out, "You have a-"

"Anya" Elena turned towards her sister tearfully, "I'm so sor-"

"Just go and disappear somewhere will you?" Anya burst out as she stood up and walked away. Sasha put a comforting hand on Elena's shoulder, "She's only worried about you". But even so, the young girl was really trying Anya's patience.

_**See what I see…**_

Anya stopped in her tracks with her back still to the group, her mind going hazy as she couldn't keep track of what was happening. Her head hurt so badly and she was losing her focus. The grassland was disappearing…

_People…audience, everyone except children. So happy, they wolf-whistled and jeered. Mocked the woman whose hands were tied up. The woman cried, not for her life but because finally she would have the heavenly peace she had wanted all along…death was welcome. _

"_Today" a hoarse voice issued from a knight, "You all have taken out some of your precious time to watch a Satan's remnant be put to death. Fear not for she shall be reborn as one who will be like all others who stand here today". Catcalls and applauses filled the cool air._

She wanted to help the woman, to stop this atrocious conduct but she was paralyzed. She could see her through the crowd…

_She was running towards her…mother. _

_The guard forced the woman into a kneeling position and unsheathed a glinting dagger._

_No!_

_He held the tip of it to the woman's throat. Time was running out._

_I'm coming mother but-no! Someone stopped her from behind. _

"_You can't do anything now" a man said forcefully, still holding her back, "You'll only meet the same fate as hers". She turned back towards the woman one last time knowing how true his statement was._

_**Feel what I feel…**_

_Scarlet blood stained the pale throat, ran down her freezing body and on to the white snow where the knight let go of the fragile body and she fell. _

And as she fell to her knees, excruciating pain pierced her heart. No one cried for the fallen, just her. She screamed in rage, anguish, the absolute injustice for the woman. _Whose feelings are these? They're not mine, I don't know her._

"Anya!" Natalia ran to her side but Anya was still cut out from the rest of them.

"Blood…there's so much blood…" she was whispering weakly.

"What's happening to her?" Guy shouted as he, like the others stood around her.

_They cheered for a new beginning, a better future. The woman's husband stood with no hint of remorse or tears. He was the reason this had happened, now he would have to die. They would pay for this…The Score had done this. The Score…._

Anya's vision returned and she touched her face only to feel cold wetness, those of tears. She looked up immediately, "What happened to me?"

They looked a little worried but Ion decided to speak up, "You weren't with us anymore. It was as if someone else was operating within you or something".

"And then you started screaming like-like-" Anise told her in a small voice.

Anya stood up on slightly weak knees, "Mrs. McClain" she said weakly and then composed herself, "Mrs. McClain's dead. The Oracle knights killed her".

"Oracle knights?" Tear asked, surprised as well.

"What?!" Luke cried out, "You mean that woman we met in Keterburg?"

"Freya McClain's mother" Jade confirmed slowly, not yet understanding fully what had happened. "She was a sorceress".

"Freya McClain?" Asch broke in with a frown.

"You know her?" Natalia asked him.

Asch nodded, "I overheard Van saying something about appointing her as the new God-General".

"A new God-General?" Luke, Guy and Anise cried out in surprise. Just how much more of these revelations could they take in one night?

"She's got quite a big criminal record on her head huh?" Anya commented. She rubbed her forehead, "I still don't get it, whatever happened to me? How did I-?" _See what I see?_

"Maybe we should all just get some sleep" Rin scowled, "argh! Why does my entire body hurt so badly?"

"Katharine, could you tell me just when these sessions of pain started?" Jade actually sat down across her with a look so that she felt as though she was consulting a doctor.

"Um-yeah" she started, "Okay, since around a few days. But the first one actually came after Anya rescued us".

Jade thought about it for a second, "What did they do to you? Any experiments?"

Sasha and Anya exchanged worried looks. What was Jade getting at? It didn't sound too good from his tone.

"Y-yeah" she replied, "I really don't know what they did to me because I was unconscious most of the time. But I had loads of wires and things attached. But I could swear I heard Dist mention something about insertion of seventh fonons". She added, hoping this would answer his question. He was scaring her with that serious look.

Jade actually looked concerned and somehow upset. "I should have just died as a new born" he muttered, pushing his glasses up his nose and standing up.

Sasha came closer to Rin and put an arm around her when she suddenly stiffened and pushed away Sasha roughly. "W-what the-?" Sasha's eyes widened as Rin's breath became erratic and she sank to her knees shuddering.

"Rin!" Anya cried out and was making her way towards her when Jade's hand stopped her. His intense gaze was fixed upon Rin on the ground.

"Don't get close to her" he stated and Anya looked as though he had gone mad.

"She needs help" she said and tried to go past him but he was insistent.

"Look" was all he said when everyone else gasped in shock.

Bat-like wings sprouted out from behind Rin, claw-like organs began tearing through her skin and clothes from her shoulders and arms, covered in blood. Her head shot up and Anya's skin crawled as she saw how her best friend's once beautiful face had distorted. Innumerable scars across her cheek, her eyes…there was no white. Her eyes had become black void-like. She stood up as her manicured nails turned to dangerous looking claws.

"Kill me" she said pleadingly. Oh god, there was still a part of her left in there. How could Anya comply with her words?

Jade's spear came out of nowhere and Sasha cried out in surprise, "Jade! Stop it, how can you possibly do this to her?" She tried running back to Rin but she slapped her across the face.

"Don't-" she was losing her voice, it was turning raspy, "-come near me".

"B-but-" Anise looked at Jade, "Colonel, what do we do?"

He continued to look at Rin and then approached her with his lance, "There's no other way. She'll only turn against us. There's no coherent thinking on her part anymore". He strode forward but Anya blocked his path and then slapped him hard across the face.

"You can't just kill her Jade. She's my best friend, I won't let you do something like that" Anya cried out as she saw Rin trying to distance herself from them.

"Get away from me" she said again, "It-it hurts".

"She'll die eventually" Jade stated pushing her away, "If we let her be, it will only result in a more painful end". She turned to look at Rin who had covered her face.

"Please do as Jade says" she sobbed, "I don't want to do any harm to you guys. I-it hurts. Please." When no one said anything, she suddenly hit the area around her with her chain whip, "I-I can't think-"

"Is there really nothing we can do Jade?" Luke asked him. There had to be another way, damn it.

"Finish this for me Sasha…Anya" she pleaded, "I don't want a painful death.Ugh" she cringed in pain.

Anya had seen enough. She walked to Sasha and snatched one of her guns and handed it to her.

"Do it" Anya commanded forcefully. Sasha looked up with a confused look. She knew her mind was in turmoil now but this was it. She couldn't stand to see Rin go through anymore.

"Kill me…let me die…"

"No!" Sasha's protest rang out as she turned away from Rin but Anya held Sasha's trembling hand and placed their fingers on the trigger as though they were in a training session.

Sasha closed her eyes, "I can't, Anya. This is-"

"Sasha…help me"

"This is necessary" Anya's voice sounded faded, distant even to herself. She was applying the pressure on their hands, Sasha was crying, everyone else was tensed and Rin was still asking for mercy from the pain…

Natalia gasped at the sight in front of her. The trigger had been pulled and the monster killed in an instant. Blood pooled from her chest where the bullet had hit.

Anya let go of Sasha's hand who knelt down sobbing beside her best friend, her best friend whom she had just ended up killing. The last time she had cried was when she'd been thirteen. Now after seven years who would have known this would break her apart. Of all the things to happen…

Anya sat and put her arms around Sasha, not allowing herself to lose it all. She had to stay strong. She wished her heart could have been numbed somehow, then there would be no more feeling.

Under the blood and dirt had once been a beautiful young girl, barely reaching her twenties. A girl who had been the vision of perfection to any living man. Beautiful, charming, intellectual, kind and …so much more. Were people like her not fit to live life to the fullest? Just because they had everything?

Anya hugged Sasha tightly who returned it the same way as Rin's body vanished leaving only blood. "It's better off this way" she whispered wondering if this was how she would feel when Elena disappeared as well.

She turned to see Elena a few feet away from her, crying. She stood up and spoke up in that same dead voice, "We have a lot of travelling to do tomorrow. We should get some sleep". With that she scooped up Elena in her arms and settled farther away from the others as she put the little girl to sleep. The violence wouldn't do any good to the poor girl's mind.

Jade looked down at Sasha who hadn't moved, "I'll be keeping watch. The rest of you please get some rest". With that he walked away for some seclusion. Once again, he felt responsible for the young girl's death. If he hadn't invented that technology as well…but there was no point in dwelling on that. This just added to his list of wrongdoings for which he was guilty. He had decided to keep watch for the same reason; his own actions would haunt him in hisnightmares.Professor….mother…

He walked back to the group to see that everyone had already fallen asleep. Tonight, added to Luke's disturbing sleep there were others who would meet the same fate. His eyes fell on Asch who had his arms around Natalia protectively. What was it like to have someone put off your bone-chilling nightmares the way Asch would Natalia's tonight? He shook off the thought and went about keeping watch as usual.

**I hope that came out as I expected. Well, read and review.**


	17. Ion kidnapped again

Chapter seventeen

The pink haired young girl sniffled, hugging her doll as she walked within Theor Forest which was being heavily guarded by Malkuth soldiers unfortunately. Her liger and the Hraevelsger friends were following her closely to fend off any attackers. Even then she made sure to keep herself as hidden as possible and incase they were seen by any soldier, then she would simply knock them unconscious. Making a scene wouldn't do any good. It might interfere with her plans to get back Ion;_ her_ Ion from that stupid Anise.

As soon as she had reached the outskirts of the forest, she saw a familiar tiny figure in black. He was running in her direction with the speed of the wind so that all she could see was a black and slight golden blur.

"Arietta, you were supposed to stay put in Daath" he reminded her, adjusting his mask which kept getting loose very often nowadays. He would have to get a new one soon.

"I know that Sync" she replied from behind her doll, "What are you doing here following me around?"

"I wasn't wasting my time looking for you" he replied back with a smirk, "I was only pursuing Anise and her friends".

Arietta's eyes lit up at this, "So Ion did go this way? That's good".

Sync scowled but his mask hid all of it, "So you ran away just so you could go after that replica? Stop being such a brat. For hell's sake, he doesn't even give a damn about you" he stopped immediately, hoping that the girl wouldn't catch on the mention of 'replica'.

He hadn't been able to stop the outburst; not because he cared about the girl of course but because whenever she talked, it was always Ion, Ion _and_ Ion. It frustrated him to no end that a stupid naïve young boy who had been the same as him was what the people cared about or at least give some importance to when he himself had been left to perish in the volcano.

"No! That's not true. Ion…Ion loves me. I know he does?" Arietta shouted in a tearful voice and Sync rolled his eyes.

"Whatever" he said as he turned away from her to accomplish his actual part of the orders which didn't include meaningless blather with Arietta, "Go ahead Gloomietta. But the commandant's not gonna be happy when he hears that you left the headquarters for such a stupid reason". As he sprinted away in the opposite direction, he heard Arietta's outburst of 'I'm not gloomy' and the 'thump' of her doll hitting the ground which she had thrown at him no doubt. He grinned; no matter how dense the girl was or how Ion-infatuated she was, it was still fun to make her mad.

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Anya's eyes opened for the third time after a very restless night mainly because Elena kept seeing bloodied monsters in her sleep and she would have to be calmed down every time with a slow lullaby. She realized however that this time it wasn't Elena; it was the dawn that had woken her up. Despite the lack of sleep she got up slowly, her eyes adjusting to the dark blue around with a faint golden of the rising sun. She closed her eyes, feeling the cool breeze wash over her and wondering if Rin was enjoying the same kind of weather in Paradise. She couldn't help imagining her living in a house made of cheesecake like that of Hansel and Gretel and such things…She shook her head of those thoughts, somehow comforted with her imaginations of Rin being at peace. Maybe living with Elena and her fairy tale books was getting to her.

She got up slowly so as not to awaken the others who, she saw were still very much asleep with the exception of Jade who was standing a few feet away from the fire with his back to everyone, his hair glinting golden in the sun magnificently. Tiptoeing, she made her way towards him. No matter how much her best friend's death hurt, she needed to know the reason behind it.

His head turned slightly sideways as he acknowledged the presence of someone else and stood still as always.

"Jade" she asked slowly, "Do you have a moment?" He didn't answer.

She sighed, "Look. I don't really care if you're not ready to talk. I just want to know about Rin and you better give me the answers". All the while she talked, her voice was rising somewhat. He spared her a moment's glance and decided to give her a break. For the moment.

He pushed his glasses up and turned to her, "From what it seemed and judging by Katharine's words, they conducted fonon insertion experiments on her, seventh fonons to be precise".

Anya processed this information with an indignant look, "They used her for something like that? But what could they possibly want with- wait" she pondered on his statement as it registered fully, "Is that even possible? I mean then any one could use seventh fonons, read the score and…?" she trailed off and Jade took up once again.

"Yes. In theory" he replied, "But you saw for yourself what happened yesterday; there's no way any one except a seventh fonist can control seventh fonons. Forceful insertion causes neural contamination" he stopped for a moment to let her process the information.

"Okay" she said slowly, "So that's what was happening to her when she tried to attack us?" He nodded.

"The experiment's result is rather painful and ultimately ends up in the death of the person" he turned away, clearly indicating an end to their conversation. Anya sighed heavily but went away, not really caring about Jade's attitude for the moment. She would get a full explanation on the subject later someday.

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After careful research Van had come to know that Luke and his companions wouldn't be able to travel much farther. With the Rotelro Bridge out and the stoppage of Ferries, they couldn't do much unless that pilot girl showed up with The Terracon earlier than expected. Even if he himself tried to dispose of them and take the Fon master, there was always a chance they would escape on foot somewhere safer, maybe Grand Chokmah for example.

"I want to see God-General Sync right away" he turned to one of the guards outside his office who hastily went away.

A few minute of waiting and then Sync came in, "You called?"

"Yes" the commandant replied professionally, "I want you to take out Luke and the others with the Fon Master unharmed. Asch is with them as well and I want both of them here."

Sync looked at him through the mask wondering why it was always him that Van chose for the tough missions that had way too much traveling for his liking. Was it because he took pity on this replica and gave him something to do so as to keep himself from feeling like the empty shell that he was?

"I just have to follow them and get them and bring back Asch and Ion" he said the words loud with a little twitch at the mention of Ion.

Van nodded, "I've dispatched a ferry." Sync seemed surprised and Van continued, "It wasn't easy but I managed to do so. Because I assume the group will be desperate for any kind of transportation, they will most definitely try getting to it."

Sync still seemed confused, "But why would you be helping them? I'm supposed to-"

"It will be a fail-safe method to get rid of them. There's nowhere to run in the middle of the sea" he told him and Sync understood, not all that awed because he had come to know Van's cunning ways long ago.

The God-General made his way outside with a little addition of his own to the commandant's plan.

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"Aww, no way" Anise ran up to the edge of Rotelro Bridge that had still not been repaired, "Now what do we do?"

Luke approached it too; "I don't believe this, after we came all the way…" his face fell in defeat.

"Whoa!" the gravel beneath Anise's feet crumbled away but Luke's hand steadied her immediately. She stared back at him in surprise.

"Knowing you that sure was a fast reaction" Jade said with a smirk and Luke looked mad but didn't find anything to say and instead chose to scowl.

"But is there really no other way?" Sasha asked looking around the field they were in.

"We need some sort of vehicle" Tear said and continued to look at the sea like everyone else.

Natalia spoke up, "What about the Katsbert ferries?"

Asch shook his head, "The ports are closed during war". But even then, he could hear something that sounded like machinery in the distance. Everyone was quiet and the sound began becoming much more distinct. He looked up just as Tear pointed with a gasp.

"Look!" And sure enough there was a Katsbert in the middle of the sea.

"But-" Luke looked confused when Guy interrupted.

"It could be for transporting weapons or otherwise" he said thoughtfully and Jade agreed.

"Now if only we could get to it somehow" Anya mused with a sigh. The ferry was still almost a speck in the horizon.

"You're not getting away" came a shout from behind and they immediately whirled around to see a liger and two Hraevelsger.

Sasha pushed away Elena out of the charging liger's path and Anise rounded on the God-General with a furious expression.

"What the hell do you want Gloomietta?"

"Yeah" Elena agreed, angry at the liger's 'ill manners' as she put it, "We have enough trouble without you around". Anya couldn't help but crack a smile at this.

Arietta looked beside herself, "Asch, are you really going to betray Van and work for these murderers? That replica?"

Asch had a thunderous expression, "I am not working for this damned reject here" Luke frowned but didn't say anything when Asch continued without sparing him a look, "I have my own reasons for travelling alongside them".

At the moment she didn't seem to give a damn about Asch and instead turned to the others, "Anise, I am taking back Ion".

Luke intercepted before Anise could do anything, "What if we don't want to give him back?"

"Then-" she looked at him defiantly, "Then I'll fight you". With that she motioned for her monsters to start attacking and they got into a raging battle.

"Come on Gloomietta" Anise started, "Cut it out."

"No" Arietta shouted, "I hate you all; I'm not letting you get away with Mommy's murder."

"Someone else was bound to have killed her in the end, Arietta" Guy reasoned but the teen had no ears for him at all.

"You're not going to take Ion away from me too Anise" she said and started casting negative Gate.

Anise took the hit and then got up spitting hair from her mouth, "Gloomietta, you've been working against Ion's wishes all this time. You're the one who's trying to hurt him." Even as she said those words, they cut through her heart. She was a bigger traitor than anyone else…

Sync watched from behind the mountainous regions. Arietta wasn't doing too well. He couldn't blame her though, she was outnumbered by powerful people but it was better for him anyway so that when he would be battling, the group wouldn't be up to their best. He could see the ferry coming closer as Van had instructed the sailor to do when he saw quite a number of people on the island; that was if luck favored them and Luke chose to lead his group through here. He just had to be ready when the group boarded the ship from the grassland and he would sneak in, it was his specialty after all to be able to get in anywhere he wanted.

Even as Asch fought on, he had an idea as the blue bird chose to attack anyone but him. It was obvious that the bird was used to his presence around Arietta so it was definitely not supposed to fight this man. _Hmmm…_

Asch drew his sword back to the scabbard and whistled in the midst of the battle. The uninjured Hraevelsger immediately approached him and as soon as he took hold of the bird's feet, he felt himself hoisted up into the air as he began directing the bird towards the ferry.

There were cries of surprise from the others below him but Asch couldn't explain anything at the moment.

"I don't believe him" Anise shouted, "He just left us here?"

"I don't think that was his intention Anise" Anya told her as she blocked one of Arietta's moves again, "Stop this Arietta; we don't want to hurt you." The younger teen looked confused at Anya's hesitance but shook it off.

Natalia agreed with Anya but the God-General wouldn't let herself be swayed by emotions. She had to save Ion from Anise's clutches. It would help out in Van's plans and even she could have her love back.

The bird had already fallen and was now only weakly flapping its wings as it tried to fight. Without her monsters however Arietta wasn't going to last much longer and she knew it.

"Shut up! Shut up!" Arietta screamed at Anise's accusations when she suddenly felt herself pulled back roughly and then something cold against her throat.

"Stop this nonsense now" Jade told her pressing the blade with a tad more pressure than before and she gulped.

Trembling, Arietta knew if she didn't withdraw then these murderers wouldn't hesitate to kill her and she would never be able to save Ion and…she didn't want to die in a place like this.

"Fine!" she cried out with tears in her eyes as she motioned for the liger to get up and the Hraevelsger took hold of her sleeve weakly. They began return the way they had come and Arietta turned back one last time.

"Next time, I won't let you get away with your crimes. I am going to take back Ion, I promise you that". She directed most of it to Anise and then flew away.

"Boo!" Anise stuck her tongue out after her, "Whatever. The only problem we have now is-WHOA!" she stared at the sea where the ferry was coming towards them with a much higher speed than before and then it stopped right before them.

"It must be Asch" Natalia said, delight clear in her voice. See, she had been right about Asch wanting to help them.

"Yeah?" Luke looked much happier too and sure enough they saw the crimson veil that was unmistakably Asch's hair near the railing. The group immediately scrambled up onto the ferry and into the cabins as fast as they could because Asch kept shouting that he had to get the ferry moving. Asch stood for a while checking for any signs of intruders and Sync tensed from his hiding position. The ferry had already begun moving, probably the Necromancer's work.

The vehicle was already far away and to Sync's frustration, the replica and Van's sister came out onto the deck. They just couldn't stay out of his way for once. For a moment, just for a moment Tear turned to Luke at the other side, shielding anything behind her from Luke's view and Sync knew he had to take the chance. He sprinted with all he had to the edge, swam swiftly and after a few somersaults, crept inside. He would have to be very very careful so as not to encounter any of them before getting that Ion. Smirking, he entered one of the empty rooms and hid a fifth fontech based bomb under the bunk. He would have to thank Dist for that later.

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One of the rooms in Daath found a white haired man muttering to himself angrily as he worked on some machinery parts. "I don't believe him" he kept saying over and over again, rubbing his eyes and sniffling a little.

Dist took out a small mirror from the pocket of his purple pinstripes and checking out his bloodshot eyes from the lack of sleep, put it away once again with great distraught. He had never looked worse in his entire life. Van hadn't let him have more than three hours of shut-eye before waking him up at five in the morning to start working on repairing the replication machine; it was no wonder the Rose was withering away. For over three complete days he had been forced to give up his beauty sleep for this damned labor but he knew there was no turning away now, either Van or that daunting XuanWu would have his head for abandoning his work.

He yawned and accidentally knocked off a glass of sparkling beer onto a disc that was lying beside his many machine parts. Swearing, he fingered the disc to check that it had not sustained any damage went back to work. He couldn't help glancing every now and then guiltily at the disc that contained the data of his once-upon-a-best friend's mother. He had extracted Rosolite Balfour's data without Jade's permission in hopes that perhaps the two young boys could have worked together to bring her back just as they had planned for professor Nebilim; he could still remember how much Jade had taken his mother's death to his heart.

Just as he was about to get back to his work, Reiner interrupted him asking if he needed anything, perhaps coffee.

"What I need is for you to get out of my sight and not come back for the next few years", he hissed angrily as he shoved his sunglasses up his face. The assistant hurried away and Dist swore under his breath. The faster he got over with this, the better and he could finally get a much needed rest, maybe even visit the Spa at Keterburg. At any rate he needed to renew his lipstick that was wearing off before Van called an official meeting about Freya's appointment.

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Anya walked into a cabin, wanting nothing more than a few minutes of solitude and peace so she could clear her head and write to Tristan. She missed him so much at the moment, there just hadn't been much of free time these past few months to dwell upon him but she longed to hear and feel him every now and then, the way he always cupped her face with his chubby hands and gave that angelic smile before going to sleep. Sometimes she wished she could spend time with him more often and now, she had missed his fifth birthday. Birthdays were so important to boys his age; after all they were growing up into big boys.

"Oh it's you!" came a voice startling her as she turned to see Anise sitting on the desk with a quill and a paper.

"Hey" she said politely, "What's that?" she asked eyeing an official looking envelope. Anise's eyes were wide for some reason when she answered.

"N-nothing a-at all, ha-ha" she added hoping Anya wouldn't pry. The older girl looked at her strangely. She took a seat opposite to Anise picked up the paper she had been writing on. The next moment Anise had snatched away the paper much to Anya's surprise.

"Whoa Anise" she let out, "What's so important or-" she smirked, "-is it a love letter to Ion?" she teased and Anise blushed to the roots of her hair.

"N-no" she said breathlessly, "It's a poem, yeah. Just a poem I was making up about the sea and all" she said lamely in a chirpy tone. Anya looked at her again looking as though she wanted to say something but then just shrugged and sat down to write. Anise sighed in relief and gathered up everything that was hers and ran off to the deck, not wanting to take a risk by being caught writing the report to Mohs.

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Luke leaned against the railing letting the sea wind brush his hair back soothingly. It was a surprise as Guy had said that Luke hadn't gotten sea sick any of the time they had been on the ferries. He had joked and said that maybe Luke could look forward to working as a sailor but Elena had interrupted saying that it would be much more interesting if he turned out to be a pirate.

"Girls would be all over you, you know", Sasha had told him which showed that she had a weak spot for pirates. But she had explained that she merely had a fetish for them because she would get to wear hot-looking corsets, travel with rich bandits and if lucky, maybe hook up with the captain. Anise had agreed whole heartedly as soon as she heard about the money and Luke had tried hard not to think about the older girl in corset.

He fingered a tiny hand made kitty which he usually hid in his pockets but he suddenly missed being Luke 'the spoiled brat' and his mother. No, Asch's mother to be correct.

"Luke" came Tear's voice and he hurried to hide the doll but she had seen him and suspiciously stared at him.

"What was that Luke?" she asked and he obliged after a few seconds of hesitation and Tear's, "I told you not to hide anything from me. How am I supposed to watch-oh?" She stopped as soon as she saw the doll, "That's very cute" she commented with a blush

"Mother gave it to me once, when I was still-" he screwed his face to remember, "-around twelve or so." It had still been a time when he had been learning a lot of the basic things and he had wanted nothing more than to sleep all day.

"Apparently she had given me one before but I was supposed to have lost it after the kidnapping" he explained as he played with the kitty's hands. Now that he thought of it, she had been talking about Asch but at the time the new Luke had still been the real Luke. "It means a lot to me now I just never realized it before" he told her in a distant voice.

Tear nodded and then remembered her own pendant, "I know how you feel Luke" she said with slight hesitance while scratching Mieu's ears, "I used to have a memento of my mother too". Luke looked at her with a questioning look.

"Used to?"

"It was a pendant that-" she wondered if she should tell him. He would only end up feeling responsible for it, "-we gave away to the coachman in Tataroo Valley".

"What?" Luke looked upset at that, "Tear, I'm so sorry for the inconsiderate things I said at the time." Just as expected, Tear watched him and was very surprised when his eyes lit up.

"No need to worry. We'll get it back for you sometime, okay?" he asked and Tear looked at him in pleasant surprise.

"T-thanks Luke, but you really don't-"

"Shut up okay? I'll just go see what Guy's up to" he told her in a hurried voice and ran away before she could see the rising blush on his cheeks.

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A strange, very small beeping sound was coming from somewhere that kept interrupting Anya's train of thoughts. _God damnit, stop. _

She crumpled up the third sheet in frustration as words of proper choice did not enter her head then. At least Grandpa would have returned home thankfully by now.

There was the strange noise again which she hadn't heard earlier when Anise had been inside but now the room was heavily quiet, even the sea seemed to have calmed down as if it wasn't moving. She knew this sound, it was familiar. Why? She tried to register the noise and rubbed her forehead to shake off the feeling that something wasn't right. It was a simple sound, that's all. Then why did it make her stiff in her seat? And then she walked in the direction of the noise source getting closer to the bunk, slowly and carefully. Either it was a sixth sense or her hearing had simply leveled amazingly with all the training and instructing at the academy and then she suddenly knew what this was. Even as she raised the covers, her spine chilled. _Shit! _

The next moment she had turned and was out of the door and she barged inside the cabin facing hers.

"Anya!" Natalia's startled voice greeted her and she saw that the princess was occupying a chair but she wasn't alone in the room, Asch was there but he was busy tearing up the bed covers.

"What the-" he shouted and stopped in midsentence. He clearly remembered now that the sailor himself had been an oracle soldier and he had stunned the sailor with the hilt of his sword without paying careful attention to the face. No wonder he had looked so familiar, he was one of Van's personal attendants who usually remained under the soldier helmets. It was only because Asch had seen his face by mistake a few years ago that he was now beginning to put things into pieces. They had walked right into a trap.

"This place-" he started as he faced Anya but she had already gotten Natalia on her feet and was in the doorway.

"I know" she replied back, "We've got to tell the others."

The three dashed outside and Luke was coming from the deck whose eyes widened when Asch took hold of his sleeve and pulled him away in the opposite direction.

"Whoa! Care to tell what happened?" he asked seeing the serious look on his counterpart's face.

"It's a setup" he replied, "I'm sure Van knew about us being around here that's why he sent the ferry with one of his trusted men." That shrewd bastard.

"Then we must inform the others about it- where's Anya?" Natalia exclaimed, panicked but Luke gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and Asch scowled. Even at times like these…

"Jade! Jade!" Anya ran up to the control room. She looked around and found the man standing and keeping an eye on the screen in front of him. He turned around in annoyance at being interrupted when he had been trying his best to speed up the journey.

"We've got a big problem" she announced.

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_Legretta: Straight to the point, if there aren't enough reviews then there's no posting for the next chapter._

_Tear: Major, exactly what is your 'enough'?_

_Legretta: About three or four._

_Author: Woman, stay out of it._

_Legretta: Stop being so nice to the readers. You know a lot of them have you on the alert list and yet they don't give their thoughts on it._

_Tear: But-_

_Legretta: Don't but me, stupid Score-devoted girls._

_Author: Fine. Actually maybe you're right, I love reviews. So you guys heard Legretta up there right? She's threatens to start her mystic arte anytime so I've got to listen to heo kay?_

**By now I'm pretty sure that it's obvious that Nebilim's lover boy , the one who I kept referring to as 'he' is XuanWu. I thought he needed a name. Enjoy. **


	18. Jade: Mother and Professor

**So sorry for the late update. I had skool and my computer had a virus so do understand. Part of this chapter was inspired by GriffinKhan's Jade stories, not plagiarized though. Don't worry, the whole thing is totally mine.**

Chapter eighteen

"Oh no!" Anise exclaimed as she checked out all the rooms, banging open the door every time, "Ion? ION?" _Where was he?_

"It's-" Anya turned back as the door to the control room flew open and Anise rushed inside. Jade frowned at the teen's panicked look.

"Ion's-" she panted, "-gone." It was all she said when the others suddenly burst in.

"What happened Anise?" Guy asked looking around, "We heard you shouting so we thought something was up".

"Ion's gone" Anise told them frantically running around the place looking at every nook and cranny.

"What?!" Luke's shout rang out in the silence at this news, "But how' that poss-"

"This ferry was sent by Van, I'm sure of that" Asch interrupted, "We have to get out of here. NOW."

"Why?" Natalia asked him confused.

"Fifth-fonon based fon bombs" Anya explained, "I heard and well, saw one in the cabin I was. So did Asch." She glanced at him and he nodded.

"Bombs?" Elena squeaked, "You mean this place might explode?" She took hold of Anya's hand in panic as she paled.

"Yeah" came a voice from behind, "You'll just be blown up into pieces." They whipped around to see a smirking Sync holding a flat device with a few buttons.

"You?" Anya frowned as she pushed Elena behind her and glared at the god-general, "And here I thought we had seen enough of the God-Generals."

"Ha-ha. Well sorry to keep getting in your way but that won't be for much longer" he laughed scornfully and brought into their view someone from behind.

"Ion!" Luke and Anise shouted out in surprise to see the fon master standing beside Sync.

"Give him back now" Anise strode forward and stood with her hands on her hips and a determined look on her face.

"Stupid young love-sick puppy" Sync commented with a sneer, "I don't know why you keep fighting her; you're no different from Arietta. You two so should be playing together with those ragdolls of yours and-"

"Oh I see" Anya interrupted seeing the shade of red Anise had turned, meaning rage, "So your girlfriend tipped you off about us?" She loved that moment when Sync quieted and she could almost hear his teeth gritting in annoyance. It was a shame she couldn't see his face right then, really.

"Whatever-no, don't even dare do that" he now shielded Ion as he stepped up in front of him to prevent Sasha coming any closer, "You try anything, I swear none of you here will live to see the face of Auldrant anymore."

"You know your threats are useless" Luke shot back although he wondered just what Sync meant. He was outnumbered and if they tried hard they could always get the fon master back.

"Is that so?" Jade interjected at Sync's comment, "I don't think that thought scare many of us here." Anya stared at him. Was he crazy? Death? She had no intention of dying here in the middle of the sea. For heaven's sake she hadn't even had a serious bed-time with Jade. Okay, save that particular thought for later, there was still a lot more to do in life.

"Maybe for you Necromancer" Sync answered, "But seriously, if you try getting in my way of retrieving the Fon Master and Asch, this place is no more and neither are you."

"What exactly are the consequences of trying to stop you?" Guy asked him with a frown as he eyed the device in Sync's hand.

The god-general waved the object in his hand, "See this?"

Jade sighed, "A controller for the bombs is it?" Sync nodded and the others looked troubled.

"Please everyone" Ion spoke up, "Allow me to go with him for now."

"Such impertinence" Natalia burst out with her arms across her chest, "How dare you turn against the one who you're to serve? As a member of the Kimlascan royalty I could-"

"Royalty indeed" Sync interrupted with a mocking laugh, "Don't go threatening me with that title, it's not for a false princess-"

"No!" Asch had suddenly walked towards the other God-General, "Shut up!' he hissed with a dangerous look.

"What?" Natalia looked confused just like everyone else and she turned to Asch for an answer.

Sync responded with an even more infuriating attitude, "Don't tell me, she has absolutely no idea?" Asch gave a death glare and Sync stopped.

"Asch no!" Tear looked alarmed, "You can't just give into him. Van obviously needs you for wicked purposes. If you-"

"I know what I'm doing" he replied and then turned to Sync, "I'm going with you." The redhead sent a warning glare in the god-general's direction who simply jerked his head towards the exit although keeping a careful eye on the others.

"Jade" Luke turned to the colonel who was eyeing Sync and Ion with his cool gaze, "Why are we letting them go? Why can't we just fight back?" Jade didn't answer, instead Sync did.

"Even the Necromancer knows when to give up" he replied with a smirk and then held up Ion's wrist where a multi colored bracelet-no, a bomb was strapped, "See this Anise? Still want to fight me?" he directed at Luke with a little imitation of pressing the button on his controller.

"I'm going with him. Don't stop us. And replica, I'll see you later" he directed the last words towards Luke with a meaningful look that only the redheads could understand. None of the others save Tear had any idea about their connection so explicitly. He knew that whatever he had overheard Largo telling Van wouldn't do Natalia any good, especially when she had the weight of saving people. No matter how strong she looked or felt, there was a fragile side to her that he really didn't want showing up at times like these.

"Asch, wait!" Natalia's shout reached the leaving trio but Asch didn't turn back.

When the three left with a number of birds that came from who knows where, Jade turned back to the control panel, "I don't trust that Sync would simply leave us unharmed-"

"But how could you just stand there and let him take Ion?" Anise screeched indignantly.

Jade looked irritated at being interrupted, "It was the best choice. Had we disagreed with Sync, he would have blown up the ferry and Ion. Most importantly, we still have the St. Binah citizens to save." Anise glared at him and then went away huffing.

The others didn't speak up again because no matter what, when it came to decisions anyone would leave it to Jade. In time he would prove to have done the right thing.

"I doubt Sync would have diffused the bombs and left us in peace" Anya stated, "Shouldn't we be doing something about it, maybe board another ship or something?"

"Yes" Jade answered as he checked out the radar and the map to his left, "The closest port available would be Chesedonia's." Anya almost smiled at this. At least he had stopped making her feel like she was a part of the wall, it was a start.

"So we're headed there?" Luke asked and Jade nodded.

"Hurry!" Natalia hissed as the others began coming down on the deck. She couldn't help tugging at the frilly collar. The bomb might just go off any moment.

Guy jumped over in a ninja style and Anise was about to cheer when there was a sudden explosive noise from the ferry and it began trembling. Elena shuddered.

"Thank God Jade did everything so fast" she exclaimed. And the others agreed.

"We should head for Astor's as fast as we can." Guy told them and they all followed.

"Chesedonia is an independent state" Tear sated as they entered the sandy city, "And an important one, it's only Emperor Peony who knows that you're still alive." She motioned towards Luke and Natalia.

"I do hope Father gets the letter from Emperor Peony about us" Natalia put in, hoping for the best. Their deaths were the reason Kimlasca wanted to launch an assault on Malkuth.

"Yeah" Guy agreed, "I think it's better if Astor knows about this. Besides, we could always board a ship without worrying about any undesirable interactions between the Kimlasca and Malkuth soldiers." At the word 'undesirable interactions' Anise turned to him with a mock grown-up look.

"You dirty minded Guy" she said, "I can't believe you're thinking about things like that now."

"Yes please" Jade put in, enjoying the distressed look Guy gave, "Save those thoughts for after we are done completing the task at hand." Only Natalia didn't understand fully but that was mainly because she was lost in her own thoughts about Sync's words.

After they met a very shocked Astor who had kept laughing insanely at seeing the Royal cousins alive, he informed them that it wouldn't take more than ten minutes or so to depart. Natalia had looked absolutely frantic saying that they needed to hurry.

"It's been almost a week" she said in a slight panicky voice.

"I know" Guy replied, "But I'm sure we'll get there in time. I really want to save St. Binah; it was my first refuge after Hod."

"Oh!" she looked at him with worried eyes and then put a determined look, "We are going to save it no matter what." As she was about to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder he backed up against a wall and she apologized then detached herself from the rest of the group and walked alone in front. She was so lost in thoughts that she didn't see a large blond man coming from her right and fell on her bump as they collided.

"Oh, sorry pretty miss" he drawled and pulled her up to her feet. She looked up and thanked him but he grabbed her wrist. "Come now, where do you think you are running off to?"

Natalia glared at his hand and tried to pry it off, "Would you please let me go? I have important work to take care of."

"Important work huh?" he smirked. She threw a disgusted look at the bar man when the rest of them arrived from behind but to everyone's surprise Guy threw a punch at the bar man's ear.

"Hey! Watch it man-"

"No you watch it." Anya retorted coming to Natalia's aid and the man's eyes went wide.

"You're that Malkuth soldier." He pointed at her and then looked around to see Jade. He gulped as he remembered him as the Necromancer and what he had told him about harassing a colleague of his. Anya looked confused at his words and Jade stepped in. He pried off the man's hand from Natalia's wrist with no effort at all and glared icily.

"Princess Natalia" Anya slowly and deliberately called her, "I think it's time we board the ship."

"You can't mean-that p-princess Nata-" he stuttered nervously and Guy nodded.

"Keep your hands to yourself next time." He said coldly and then led the way towards the port.

Anya couldn't help wondering why she hadn't been nervous around that man at all this time. Was it because it was daytime and just about everyone was here? However, what she did figure out was that the incident with Irvine had probably happened before she had lost her memory and that was what had caused such a serious reaction. It was the only explanation she had right now and unfortunately she didn't know that someone else had the answers to her questions.

"Well, it seems as if my deductions proved far more accurate than I thought." Van drawled with a smirk at Sync and his captives.

"I told you I am _not_ joining you" Asch told him furiously.

"In that case, you can remain locked up for a while." His former instructor replied and immediately two guards took hold of the already tied Asch. "No, I want Sync to take him to the cell." He knew what his student was capable of doing. It would be a piece of cake to let those guards go of him.

"But I might not be so lucky the next time" Van was saying to Legretta, "I still think Mohs's traitor should have submitted her report earlier." At this Asch turned his head back.

"Who're you talking about? What does Mohs-" Sync shoved him forward and he almost lost balance.

"You've become such a nuisance Asch, I expected more from you than anybody else" Van told him and Sync guided him through the door. Van gazed coolly at the departing pair. Asch didn't have to know. In fact it was better he didn't know anything at all, he would only end up passing the message to Luke and his friends. Now that the Fon Master was here, neither Sync nor he had to be bothered about opening the seals and tiring themselves.

"Come on. Come on" Guy was squealing like a little child, "That way to the city already." And he ran off in the direction of a town from which lots of smoke was seen to be released.

"He really is interested in Fon Machinery isn't he?" Natalia had her eyes on him from behind.

"But wasn't it supposed to be Belkend where Guy found the loves of his life?" Anise asked and Guy turned back with shimmery eyes.

"Yeah but, Sheridan is the home of craftsmen. Skilled craftsmen who build Fon machinery."

"I see" Anya said politely and with slight interest. Ever since the silly argument about whose technicians were smarter had begun between the Kimlascan and Midgardian folks, the kings of both areas had appointed their best technicians to create the flying vehicle, the first flying vehicle to carry passengers.

Guy led the group to a large place which everyone termed 'the meeting hall' and they found themselves in presence of three very old people around a large machinery that looked like the part of…

"Is that where the Albiore's going to be created?" Guy asked in a hoarse whisper as he approached the area with a look as though he was meeting the queen.

"Well" a man with bushy eyebrows looked at them in suspicion when he saw Jade in a Malkuth uniform, "I am Iemon, who're you lot? And what do you want here?" he still hadn't stopped staring at Jade as though any moment he might charm the incomplete Albiore out of the room and into Grand Chokmah.

Jade then stepped forward to the three elderly, "Colonel Jade Curtiss" he bowed slightly, "in presence of Fon Master Ion and Princess Natalia and Luke Fon Fabre of Kimlasca." He looked at Natalia to continue. She explained and the old ones nodded understandably.

"I see" the woman, Tamara replied, "But you see, the first Albiore crashed in the Meggiora Highlands and his grandson was piloting it." She motioned towards Iemon.

"What?! It cr-crashed?" Guy looked shocked at the very thought. _The first ever created aircraft of Kimlasca?_

"We couldn't send any rescue team and we really need the plane more than my grandson Ginji" Iemon told them and they stared at him horrified. _Heartless Geezer_, Anise thought.

"We will go to the Meggiora Highlands" Luke announced too everyone's surprise, "We'll do everything in our power."

"Go Luke!" Elena smiled and patted his arm lightly.

"Yes, that's how real royalty works" Natalia said with a smile.

"I-it's nothing to do with royalty" Luke exclaimed, "I'm doing what I must as a human being." _Even if I'm a replica._

"Um, what about Ion?" Anise asked the red head.

"He can stay here till we come back, right?" he asked the old people who agreed and wished them luck.

"Aargh!" Anise let out after shaking off a crab like monster, "It's hot and dusty and I have no idea which way we came from." Her voice kept rising at every word and everyone stared at her with an amused look.

"Can I go back already?" Elena asked with a pout that made Tear want to charm her into a doll and cuddle up.

"Soon enough" Anya told her and then with a sigh bent down so she could piggy-back her sister. Elena seemed hesitant but very happy to do so.

After sometime Jade suggested that they should form groups and go for the rescue to which everyone agreed.

"Guy" Jade turned to the blonde who was accompanying the colonel, Natalia, Sasha and Anya, "It's not really polite of a noble to let a woman do the kind of labor Anya is doing." Anya looked up with a tired look and managed a smile.

"It's alright. Besides, Guy would probably end up dropping Elena somewhere that would take ages to find her" she looked at the cliffs by which they were travelling.

"Guy" Natalia turned to the Malkuth noble too who now looked ready to run back the direction they had come, "Jade's right, go ahead and help out Anya a little bit."

"M-me?" he almost squeaked, "B-but-"

"This way, you can learn to control your phobia" Sasha pointed out and he gulped but tugged the sleeping Elena off Anya's back with shaky hands. Anya sighed in relief with an actual smile. Well, her feet had been killing her.

"Thanks" she directed most of it to Jade who nodded and directed her with a gentle pull of her hand; her head went all the way to cloud number nine at the gesture. Had he just done that? Oh my god! Okay, maybe she was just getting a tad bit hormonal.

"There he is" Natalia pointed out, "I don't believe it, do you think he's still alive?"

"Don't say it like that" Anya told her and then they saw the rest of them on the other side, "Well, go ahead."

"I'm here" they heard a faint voice issuing from the airplane wreck.

"We'll have to perform the rescue fast or any hope may be lost" Jade said grimly and Guy and Luke got to work.

"oooh, he looks bad" Anise said in a small voice as they saw a young, probably sixteen year old boy emerging in blood covered clothes from the wreck.

"Thanks" he said in a hoarse voice, "Tell Grandpa I'm sorry I crashed his first jet and to forgive me for it-"

"Hey hey, you're not gonna die alright?" Luke assured the boy and then looked at Tear who sat and began healing him along with Natalia.

"Wow!" he sat up, wincing, "So we go back to Sheridan?" They nodded and Luke took hold of him from under the arms he turned to look for Guy for help but found the blonde digging through the rubble.

"Hey you guys" he directed the group's attention, "Shouldn't we be taking some of these parts along with us? I mean we came all the way here and the other Albiore might need some of these."

"Yeah" Ginji agreed, "The Albiore 2 is still incomplete because of lack of parts."

"Well then" Guy grinned, "What are we waiting for?" he began muttering and collecting objects which he thought were important.

"It's good we've got a fontech-crazed guy along with us" Anise announced but Guy merely smiled back at her.

"I guess men are into these sort of things" Natalia said observantly.

"You women just don't get it?" was all Guy replied and then handed the filled bag to Jade who scowled but took it anyway and the blonde went to offer his friend help.

A young fifteen year old blonde girl was walking towards the exit of Sheridan wearing what looked like an outfit for professional pilots and a pair of goggles on her head. She had wanted to go for the test fly so badly, if only grandpa had allowed. Ginji was probably having the time of his life up in the sky. She looked up to see any sign of her brother and sighed moodily. She knew all the safety rules and had learned just about everything by heart about controlling the Albiore. When Ginji returned, she would have to blackmail him about that pretty waitress he had gotten a crush on into letting her use the Albiore 1. Yes, that seemed good enough that was until she saw her brother a little distance away being supported by two other young men and accompanied with them were a few more people.

She ran up to them hurriedly when she saw the blood covering her brother's clothes, "Ginji are you okay? Ginji what happened? What are you…what happened to the Albiore? I was so worried-"

"Cam down sissy" he said in a tired but kind fashion at which the girl put her face closer and her hands on her hips.

"Don't call me that. It's Noelle" she then turned with a much gracious and bubbly smile, "Thanks you guys, I really have to go tell Grandpa about this. Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Yeah" Luke muttered, "Like get us rooms and food." Noelle giggled at the response and immediately led them to a small house within the city.

"Come on in" she ushered them inside, "Here's Ginji's room. Uh, don't mind the mess, grandpa's really into fontech and all…" she motioned towards the cluttered table and floor but no one really cared, the house itself was enough comfortable after the hectic sandy journey.

"Ah, Noelle" Aston exclaimed as she entered the meeting hall with Ginji's saviors trailing behind her.

"You're all okay! Where's Elena?" Ion looked around and Anya replied that they had left her over at Ginji's place.

"We weren't able to create the Albiore completely" Tamara told them, "We need some parts that-"

"Actually" Guy stepped in front with the bag, "We got back some parts from your previous Albiore."

"Smart thinking" Iemon remarked and Guy shifted his foot uncomfortably at the compliment.

"Well then, why don't you all retire for the night? Noelle, you'll need all the rest you can get" Aston suggested and smiled at a bemused Noelle.

"You can't mean I'll be-" she started but was interrupted by an impatient Iemon.

"Yes yes, you'll be the pilot for the Albiore 2. Ginji's in no condition to do that." Noelle looked like she was in heaven and bear-hugged her grandpa, then ran away to prepare for the next day.

"I'm afraid none of our houses would be enough to accommodate all of you" Aston told them in an apologizing tone.

"That's okay" Tear quickly put in, "We can book rooms at the inn for tonight." Anise grumbled something about saving money but followed the others.

What had Sync meant by the false princess? Natalia couldn't help dwelling on the thought. Asch had known something hadn't he? That's why he had gone, put himself in Van's hands rather than let Natalia know about something that was…that was the problem, she had no idea what it was all about. For all she knew Sync could be bluffing but Asch had taken it seriously so that surely meant-

"Natalia?" came Anise's call from the door of the room, "Everyone's waiting for you, we can't start eating without you. I'm starving." She sounded similar to Luke whining like that. Luke, her cousin who she had believed the same old Luke as Asch, her actual betrothed, the one whom she had replaced with Luke only because he had looked like him. Why hadn't she seen the difference? Was that what was hurting Asch more than anything? Was that why he wouldn't kiss her like they had when they were young, the reason he wouldn't acknowledge any of the previous feelings they had shared? She shook her head of the thoughts and headed downstairs for dinner.

Her companions were seated around one table, cramped but simply enjoying themselves as Sasha made some joke about blondes. Natalia straightened her dress and headed with a smile, she shouldn't be feeling depressed; for the sake of everyone. She was a princess after all.

"I'm sorry" Sasha apologized, "I don't mean to be rude, it's just-"

"It's okay" Guy assured her with no hard feelings at the stupid blond jokes.

"Where's Elena and Anise?" Natalia looked around the table and saw an empty chair.

"They went to get the drinks" Tear told her and the next moment she heard a gasp from behind. She turned fast to see Anise bumping hard into Elena who had stopped abruptly to check her shoe laces and 'BAM'. The contents of the two glasses Elena held in her hand went flying into Tear's face or at least would have if she hadn't moved away at the moment. Inconveniently Anya had her back to the two girls and in a moment her back was drenched in mango juice of all the things. For a moment she was silent and then-

"MY HAIR!" she turned furiously to the two girls behind her who didn't seem all that scared now that almost everyone in the table had started laughing. "What's so funny?" she snapped at the others who chose not to answer the deranged looking woman. She stood up from her unfinished dinner, "I'm going to sleep."

"Don't take the bed" Anise called out with a giggle and Anya gave a last glare in her direction before running upstairs to have a change of clothes.

"I'm taking the bed for sure" Anise announced and jumped on to it.

"Hey, no fair" Luke shooed at her, "You weren't the ones carrying a guy through the desert you know." Anise rolled her eyes.

"So? There's another bed, no one's stopping you." She said as if Luke was stupid not to have seen it.

"I don't prefer male company in my bed, thank you" Jade told them with a smirk as he undid his boots, "But it's alright as long as neither of you decide on getting frisky-"

"Agh! Stop saying weird things" Luke told him with an embarrassed look and Guy shook his head.

"I wouldn't dream of it." He muttered and chose a spot on the floor.

"You know" Anise started in a light tone as she lay down with one foot on the other, "as scary as he looks the Colonel's actually a fun guy on the inside."

Immediately Luke and Guy turned to the teen with an indignant expression, "No, he's scary on the inside too."

Jade sighed dramatically, "That's not a nice comment for an old man's ego."

Tear and Natalia got on either side of Anise and Elena tried pushing Jade away from the other bed with no effort.

"It's okay" Sasha told her, "Come over here" she motioned to a spot on the floor not realizing that Guy was only few feet away. He almost jumped up when Elena's foot touched his shoulder.

"Sorry. Sorry" she exclaimed and scrambled up close to Sasha who shook her head at Guy's behavior. He grumbled to himself and went further away beside Luke who smirked at some idea playing in his head.

As the lights turned off, Natalia asked a question that irritated everyone except Jade who had gone to sleep before anyone else, "Where's Anya?" Luke threw his pillow at her in frustration and the two cousins got into a childish fight until Tear snatched the pillow and threatened to kick them both outside the room. Sleepy silence covered the room except for the water running in the shower and soon they all fell asleep.

Anya crept out slowly, finally after changing into that dress which made Anise confuse her with Luke, although she was sure the little girl did it on purpose. The hot shower felt so damned good especially when accompanied with fruity shampoos, all thanks to Sasha. She stepped over to her best friend's bag and snooped through to extract the vanilla flavored lotion. She would have to thank Sasha first thing in the morning. Then she remembered that she had definitely heard some sort of disturbance within the room before sometime so she had turned off the shower and words like 'mother' reached her ears, very slightly though. As she began applying the cream she looked back to see the bed empty. Where was Jade?

_Jade was walking back home from his early morning stroll at the foot of Mt. Roneal. Preferably at this time the people of Keterburg were usually just getting prepared for the day. The man opening the grocery store stared at the nine year old boy who passed by without a glance; he knew how people gawked at him. Oh well, he would have to show Professor Nebilim today that he could also control the Seventh Fonon now that he had the fonic sight. He stopped and looked up at a certain house wondering if his friend was awake and then came a crashing noise from the house followed by a woman's exasperated shout. Jade grinned; Saphir's fonbot had probably broken one of Mrs. Gneiss's china vases. The door to the house flung open and a blonde woman walked out holding a white haired young boy fully dressed for the snowy morning. _

* * *

"_Oww mom." He whined, "Not my ear. Ouch" he tried prying off his mother's hand from his precious ears and she let go all of a sudden when she caught sight of Jade._

"_Oh, good morning Jade." She greeted politely with a plastered smile behind which Jade could clearly see the trepidation. The only reason she was forced to tolerate the 'Devil Child' was because he was Saphir's best friend._

"_Jade!" Saphir's face lit up and then he turned to his mother, "Can I go play with him? I have to show him my new-"_

"_No young man" she replied loudly, "We're going grocery shopping." With that she tucked her hand under his arm and pulled him away from Jade muttering something to Saphir who wasn't paying attention and instead waved back to Jade who did the same. Jade sighed and kicked a small cat out of the way which hissed at him and tried to claw at his boots. This made Jade start an arte but he realized that being in the middle of the city, this wasn't a good option and instead chose to kick it again before running back home._

_The feel of the wind rushing against his golden brown hair was simply comforting and made him oblivious to the rest of the world. As soon as he reached the doorstep of his house he opened the door gently without a creak and entered to hear cluttering noises in the kitchen which meant that Nephry had shifted her entire doll house and cooking set there for the day. She appeared in a woolen blue dress and threw her arms around him which he didn't return but instead shrugged her off and made his way upstairs towards his room. But before he could reach his destination, his mother emerged from the study with an expression close to a scowl._

_Rosoly Balfour wasn't what everyone would call a beautiful woman but she had an attractive set of features; a straight nose, sharp brown eyes, a small mouth all set in a pointed face highlighted by high cheek bones of creamy complexion. But to Jade, she was the most beautiful woman that any boy could have for his mother although he would never admit it to her. He wasn't Saphir who would bring back bunches of roses for his mother telling her how he loved her and such. For Jade and his mother, it was the time they spent in the study with the books and learning all about fonology that meant the world to Jade. His mother was an intelligent woman and that was precisely what Jade prided on over everything else. What was more, he appreciated his mother because she wasn't one to sit and knit all the time like the other women in Keterburg. Instead she preferred teaching him all about fontech and fonic artes and he knew that she watched him with pride when he showed her a new arte._

_His father wasn't much of a companion for him although he did go well along with Nephry and somehow, his mother. He couldn't see why his mother had bothered marrying a man like him who wouldn't spend an ounce of time on books or research because every chance he got, he would run off to do a bit of fishing and Nephry would accompany him to cheer._

"_Jade" she stood in front of him, tall and straight, "Where were you?"_

"_Morning walk" he replied in a monotone and hoped his mother would simply leave._

"_So where were you at three in the morning?" she asked-no…demanded an explanation. She loved her son; he was the light of her life as a mother. It wasn't as if Nephry wasn't a good daughter but Jade was different. She was proud of him, proud of how much he had learnt and accomplished as a child; even she hadn't been able to master 'turbulence' till she was fifteen. To be honest she really didn't care what the people commented on Jade's unsociable manner but the fact that he could already kill in cold blood troubled even her._

_Jade sighed knowing there was no way out and told Nephry to leave and then followed his mother to the study._

"_Mother" he started slowly, "I needed some test subjects for a new experiment." She looked at him expressionless but he knew she was listening. All the coldness about her, the calculating look and that seemingly unloving attitude-he couldn't help but look up to her as an inspirational figure; he knew he had inherited all that or maybe he had simply watched her and become that way. _

"_So I collected a few monsters from Mt. Roneal for the fomicry experiment." She nodded with a frown._

"_Is that the experiment where you'd be replicating objects?" she asked remembering something he had told her earlier. He told her all about his 'work'; she was the only one who would understand it all; it was a place where she could choose to let down that barrier, that wall which separated her from a lot of other women._

"_Jade, why can't you try carrying out your experiments with something inanimate? It's preferable that way. Killing harmless monsters is like a crime." She knew his vocabulary would pick up the words she used, he was so smart, so intelligent and she expected so much from him; if only he wouldn't be so blood thirsty but she dared not hint at it for fear of making him want to go on ahead in that path._

"_Mother" he immediately stood up, "I have to go meet Saphir. He wanted to show me something. Besides, it's Professor Nebilim's last class before she goes on vacation."_

"_Yes" she stood up too, "Do take care that Peony and Nephry don't go doing anything stupid in her class today. And Jade, what are you trying to hide from me?" The question was so sudden and demandingly asked that Jade almost got off-balance._

"_What do you mean mother?" he asked slowly although he was sure she had noticed how he kept his head down most of the time nowadays._

_She shook her head at him; she knew he spent his time up alone in his room but recently it was as if he didn't exist in the house. She strode over to him and held his face by the chin forcing him to look up to her eyes that were supposed to be the exact same eyes except that…_

"_Jade?" she whispered as her widened. His irises had turned a darker shade with a hint of red in them. Had the boy really applied the fonic sight to his eyes? She couldn't believe the extent to which he had gone. "You're not going blind are you?" she asked him directly with a hint of emotion in her eyes which was so rare and Jade couldn't help smiling at the fact that his mother was genuinely concerned._

"_No I'm not. Now please mother, if you'll allow me to go prepare for Professor's class."_

"_But that's not until the afternoon."_

"_I'll be going directly from Saphir's place to the school" he replied and then sauntered away to his room but Rosoly Balfour couldn't brush the worried feeling away._

_Xxxxxxxxxxx_

"_Alright all of you" Professor Nebilim's motherly voice filled up the class, "Pack up your bags, we'll meet again after a month." The children's cheer and the scraping of desks against the floor filled up the class but Jade sat unfazed at all the noise around. Peony came and poked him from behind with Nephry and Saphir tagging along. _

"_Go on ahead" Jade told them even before any of them spoke up, "I have something to discuss with Professor."_

"_But Jade, it's the starting of holidays." Peony whined and Nephry agreed._

"_You're all still lingering here?" Professor Nebilim came back from an inner room, 'I'm sure your parents are waiting for you so do make it quick."_

"_Actually professor" Jade stood up, "I have something to show you." She nodded with her smile faltering. Jade would come and show his experiments to her and somehow they ended up having an undesirable effect on her._

"_It's a new arte." Saphir piped up and Nebilim relaxed._

"_What, are you two trying to surpass me too?" she asked in a slight teasing but encouraging tone and everyone except Jade backed away. He began casting the arte after muttering some words and collecting a certain amount of-_

"_Jade! No!" Professor Nebilim dashed towards him, "Not the seventh fonon." He looked up in panic. If professor was nervous then…he cried out as he was flung backwards with a blinding white flash. In the next moment he had stood up with Saphir cowering beside him and the room blazing with fire. Where was Nehpry? Where was Peony…Professor?_

_He heard a strangled cry from the corner and saw that the professor was trying to cast an arte to put off the fire but it was all too quick even for her. He sprinted forward not really thinking with Saphir scared but following him. They reached the professor who had almost gone unconscious and the two boys began to cough win suffocation. Jade put an arm under the professor's and motioned for Saphir to do the same who understood._

_A few minutes later they were outside and he could hear the shouts and cries form the other side where people were probably trying to put the fire off. They carried her a little away from the city and set her down on the snowy ground. Saphir shivered and Jade could see the burns on his legs. It was a surprise the white haired boy wasn't crying already._

"_What do we do?" he asked, "The professor-she's dying isn't she Jade?" _

_Jade thought about it for a minute and wondered if what he was thinking was possible. There was no harm in trying…right?_

"_We will replicate her" he answered simply and began making mental notes on the procedures._

"_But we still don't have the fomicry machine ready" he said in an alarmed tone._

"_I'll use fonic artes to carry it out" Jade told him in a confident yet scared tone and began doing as he implied. Saphir watched with astonishment as after a few minutes Professor Nebilim stood in front of them, now completely renewed with slight burn marks that it had gotten from its original._

"_Jade" he whispered, trembling, "You're amazing." Jade looked up at her and stepped forward to ask for forgiveness when she suddenly lashed out at Saphir who fell on the snow and began whimpering as blood began flowing from his arm. Jade stared at her in disbelief when she suddenly turned with a satanic laugh and sprouted wings from behind. What the-? No! She was headed for the city. Jade watched her go on numb legs and helped Saphir on his feet._

"_We should go check how much damage she's done already" Jade told him and the two began walking towards their home._

"_But how could this happen?" Saphir asked, "Did something go wrong?" to which Jade responded with a "I don't know."_

_Fonists from all over the city were trying their best and guards arrived to offer protection to the citizens who were running here and there looking for a safety zone. Jade had never seen Keterburg so crowded or fiery before. Children were crying and a redhead in his class was holding her doll sobbing that her brother had died._

"_Meteor Storm." Came a commanding voice and the two boys turned to see replica Nebilim fending off a few fonists who had come to try and dispose of this creature who was on the verge of destroying their entire city. One of the fonist fell unconscious and Nebilim turned away and flew like lightning in the two boys' direction. Jade began casting 'Energy Blast', his latest arte although he wasn't sure if it would work. She stumbled at the impact very slightly and attacked Saphir again but Jade came to his best friend's abet as he fell cowering in fright at this woman. This wasn't the professor they had looked up to, the one they had hoped to be like once. Another fonist, a woman with golden brown hair cast 'Prism Sword' at the replica that had attacked her son and the next moment the replica was on to her like a hawk._

* * *

Anya opened the door trying not to make too much noise and peeked outside to find the area silent. Wondering where Jade could've gone she stepped out of the room and headed outside the inn where she saw Jade's form from behind and felt somewhat….shy?! She found herself staring at him wondering if she should disturb his quite reverie, well he looked like he was trying to cool his head or something with his palm over his forehead.

"Trying to escape unnoticed are we?" came his voice when she turned around to return to the room and she realized she should've known that Jade of all the people would've noticed her presence so she went and stood beside him keeping some distance.

They stood in silence and Anya fidgeted around with her damp hair then turned to ask him why he was here but suddenly under the moonlight in that uniform without his glasses Jade was…an image of perfection on the outside with that tortured look in his eyes that was so very rare. His eyes looked straight ahead of the railing on which he leaned with his handsome side profile to her; the broad forehead with his bangs falling into his eyes lightly, the straight nose and the fine strong jaw line…and she didn't want to feel this way. It would cost too much, hurt her too much and yet she had to talk to him for the sake of friendship. She couldn't let her feelings get in the way.

"Can I ask what that was all about?" she asked slowly and when he didn't respond she let out what was on her mind, "It was Professor Nebilim wasn't it?" she took a guess and he realized he must've been talking in his sleep.

"She was the first replica I ever created." He told her and she noticed the use of 'she' and not 'it' as he normally would have chosen to.

"Um Jade?" she hesitated. Would it do so to ask about his mother? It seemed as if she had been part of his dreams too. She didn't know anything about him, nothing about his family except that he had a sister. How could she be falling for someone like that? "You kept saying 'mother' in your sleep-" He gritted his teeth as something close to a scowl passed his features.

"It was my fault mother died." He said in a hoarse voice. It had been years, around two decades and still the pain was so damned raw, "Professor's replica killed her. She was trying to defend me…"

_Xxxxxxxxxxxx_

"_No!" Jade wanted to shout out to her, to tell her that she wouldn't be able to do anything about it, to tell so many things at that moment but he could only watch as the Replica he had created strike down his mother. As Rosoly Balfour fell something deep inside him broke, shattered like nothing could fix it ever; he didn't know if this was what the called a heart break but he turned tortured eyes towards the professor silently. He had to kill her…but how could he? Even if this was a replica, she looked so like his teacher. In those few moments of hesitation she took the opportunity and flew away to wreak havoc somewhere else. Mrs. Gneiss rushed and picked up Saphir without another word and the nine-year-old Jade was left alone to face the body of his mother surrounded by a tearful father and Nephry. He couldn't cry, only feel the grief inside. Was this his problem? As he looked at his family and Peony hunched over his mother's body, he felt that he had no place there and turned away towards Mt. Roneal. That's where the heartless dwelled…maybe that was where he would find a place._

* * *

Anya stared at him, not wanting to believe what she had just heard. It was no wonder Jade kept so much to himself. She knew he was one of those people who hated others pitying them and she wouldn't do it or at least try not to. It was so damned hard to keep it all to herself. And yet she saw that he had recovered, during the whole time he had not had a change of emotion and was still the same now although countless thoughts probably ran through his head. People like him didn't tell when they needed the affection; it hurt their pride to want something so badly, something like an emotion.

She stepped closer to him and gently ran her fingers through his hair feeling him stiffen and the tingly sensation in her hands. She would have to be normal, totally careful the way he had been with her to put him to ease. He put a hand on hers to remove it when she drew him close and touched her lips to his cheek very lightly and hugged him. He resisted for a second and then gave up as he brought his arms up around her waist. She smelled of cherries and vanilla, it was a rather soothing scent he had to admit and he buried his face in her hair, for a moment not really thinking what he was doing. No one would have to know about this, this could be their little secret and he would never have to look back on a time when he had gone weak. So weak that he needed a woman for something other than mindless sex. She gently moved her face to brush her lips to the side of his mouth and he couldn't help realizing that there was a certain allure to women who gave themselves so willingly, not because they were paid for it but because they wanted it.

She pulled away knowing that it was better she didn't continue. Men like that were so attractive, so desirable because you wanted to make everything right for them but she was scared. What if she messed up? Men like him couldn't give much or maybe she was simply judging him. But she wanted to be with him for a while even though the after effects would only end up hurting her. Maybe this was what they called blind love.

* * *

Author: Yay! They made up finally. I'm so happy .

Jade: well, you'd be happy.

Anya: Hey! But how come you didn't make me do things with Jade that I was hoping for?

Author: err-next time, okay. Oh wow, this tastes disgusting. (looks at Natalia)

Luke: Your cooking's horrible Natalia.

Asch: Stop hurting her feelings dreck.

Anise: hey Natalia? Who do you wanna get married to? Asch or Luke.

Natalia: It's father who'll decide that.

Anya: But Asch cooks better than Luke

Luke: it's okay, you can have Asch. I'll be fine with Tear.

Anise: Like she'd have you.

Jade: Yes, Natalia might just take pity on you and go for you after all.

Luke: No deal. She can never match those melons-

Tear: MELONS?! Be quiet Luke-I-you're-ugh!

Jade: I'll leave you youngsters to your discussions.

Anya: Like you weren't enjoying it?

Jade: I never said I wasn't. Anyway beautiful ladies out there (curtsy). Do leave a review, especially on the part Jade-in-moonlight.

Anya: Obnoxious huh?

Fan girls: OOOOOH! Jade asked for reviews. (Swoons)

Author: err-they just fainted? Look what you did. Grr, Guy give me your sword.

Guy: why? Okay okay.

Author: This is for killing my readers Colonel. Void tempest.

**If Jade sounded a little OOC when he was a kid then I've got to say this, people change as they grow and that's what probably happened. What's more is that I thought he needed to get those qualities of his from someone and because I love mother-son maternal relationships, I just had to put his mother in the story. And oh,i made up that name for his mom cuz Rosolite is a stone and they all have names with gems ryt,so yah!!!Hope this doesn't piss you guys off.**


	19. Natalia's birth,War begins

**Chapter nineteen**

Luke woke up a little after seven o' clock which was quite a surprise since he really wasn't a morning person. He sat up rubbing his eyes giving an all-over glance to the room and his gaze stopped on the bed where Anya was sleeping holding Tokunaga's strap, the doll had moved to the side where Jade had been sleeping earlier. But since Jade wasn't there Luke guessed he hadn't been able to beat the old man. How did he always end up waking up before anyone else? It really was a mystery.

"Are you up already?" came a mocking voice from behind and Luke turned to see the Colonel fully dressed already.

"Yeah" the red head replied sleepily and stood up, "Hey Jade, you don't mind if I do a little 'something' right?"

Jade chuckled, "Depends on what your 'something' maybe. If you'll be trying to tie me to the bed and leave me behind, I would suggest you wouldn't even try."

"No way" Luke replied and turned to pick Elena up from the floor.

"Luke" Jade said with disapproval dripping in his tone, "Please, that is a girl way too young-"

"I'm not doing what you think I'm doing alright?" Luke almost shouted out of patience and then placed the little girl beside Guy. He brushed his hands on his shirt and then turned to the Malkuth Colonel, "Anyway, what were you doing with Anya in the same bed?" The colonel looked annoyed at Luke's suggestion but he had been caught rather off-guard by the question.

"Since none of you were generous enough to offer her a place to sleep, I decided to be the gentleman." Luke rolled his eyes at this and Jade turned to go away, "Anya was so taken by you and Tear-"

"What are you talking about?" Luke interrupted.

Jade sighed dramatically, "She just kept going on and on about how you two make the cutest couple in history-"

"Gaaah, just go wherever it is you were going to" Luke shouted out going red in the face and vowing never to try prying into Jade's business again as the colonel recalled last night's conversation with a chuckle.

_"We should head inside." Anya turned to Jade as they stood there in silence, "We have a lot of work to do tomorrow." It was amazing how the woman could act like nothing had occurred between them and somehow this was how he preferred it. Honestly he had no idea what would've happened if she had been one of those fan girls. He could almost shudder at the thought._

_"Yes." he agreed and followed her inside. Once there, Jade went and occupied his previous place while Anya sat down on the edge of his bed. He simply stared up at the ceiling while Anya kept twirling the strands of her hair sitting at the furthest edge of the bed so as to avoid any contact._

_"My apologies" he said startling her in the sudden silence, "You can sleep here tonight."_

_"Are you sure you don't have any fon machines ready for any sort of experiment?" she asked lightening the situation. Jade glanced at her._

_"If i wanted to try out my experiments, i don't need fon machines." he said arrogantly and she wondered if he was lying or not. Looking around she found Tokunaga and grabbed it from beside Elena._

_Setting it beside Jade she took her place, "Thanks, for being such a niceguy." she told him knowing it would annoy him to no extent, "but imagine waking up as a gerbil in the morning, not the nicest thing in the world." He smirked slightly._

_"Would rappigs suit to your taste? Or maybe something more like the doll?" he asked motioning towards Tokunaga and she scowled._

_"I never do undersatnd when you're lying." she said and__ ran her fingers over its eyes and then sighed, "Sometimes I wish Luke and Tear wouldn't be so dense."_

"_You think so?" he asked suddenly startled by the change in subject. "It may not be the best step to take for either of them, not right now seeing how none of us still trust Luke enough."_

_Anya turned to him with an indignant expression, "But he's changed or at least he's trying to, you don't always have to be so harsh about things."_

_Jade sighed, "I've been quite civil to him. As always." He added making Anya roll her eyes, "But if he's truly intent on changing himself then whatever 'accidents' he causes next time, he won't simply try to blame others for it and refuse to acknowledge his part in it." For a moment Anya pondered on it._

"_That's why you were so angry weren't you; because Luke refused to take the responsibility for his actions at Akzeriuth? I guess it's understandable." She turned away with a yawn, "But I still wouldn't have minded seeing those two end up with a happy ending to finish everything."_

"_There are no such things as happy endings that you're talking about" was Jade's cynical reply and Anya seemed to want to say something but instead finished their conversation with a 'goodnight'._

"Uaaaah!" a panicked scream reached Anya's ears much to her annoyance and she opened her eyes a crack to see Tokunaga beside her and her eyes flew open at the scream. She turned to see her clinging happily to Guy's arm on the floor and Luke standing beside with a devilish smirk.

"Get away!" he pleaded almost turning into a cocoon and Anya sat up to see that everyone except Anise were already up and ready including Luke. She didn't see Jade anywhere in sight and got ready to join the others.

"Do we go to the meeting hall now?" Natalia asked and Tear looked around the room.

"The laboratory. What about the Colonel? Where did he go in the start of the day?" she asked more to herself trying to think where he could've gone to.

"Why the laboratory?" Natalia asked and Guy told her that that's where the dock for the Albiore was.

"Somewhere outside-" Luke was replying to Tear but there was a sudden disturbing noise form outside.

"Anise, wake up." Anya tried shaking the girl but gave up when she simply returned to her slumber after opening bleary eyes for a second.

"Didn't she go to sleep at the same time as you guys?" Anya asked the princess who nodded.

"It's not really normal for her to sleep in like this." Tear said slowly but having no ideas about it.

"Oh really?" Natalia seemed surprised, "Why, Luke always wakes up the last one in the duke's manor."

"Yeah but-" Guy was cut off when Jade entered the room with a serious look on his face that made everyone in the room scared without even knowing the reason.

"Kimlascan soldiers found out about us." He told them, "We must be out of here before they get to us."

"But if I tell them who I am, then-" Natalia had been proposing to use her title to its advantage when another traveler in the hotel came running by their room.

"The soldiers." He said in a panicked squeaky voice, "They're checking all of us and taking in whomever they suspect to be from Malkuth-" his gaze fell upon Jade and his eyes widened. Everyone in the room tensed and then.

"THEY'RE HERE!" the man shouted running downstairs and they all turned to Jade who seemed unfazed by any of this and simply locked the door behind him.

"We have to find another way out." He told them calmly.

"Anise! Anise wake up" Sasha tried in vain when she sleepily slapped away her hand.

"Go away mmm. Go" she swatted away at the older girl's hand when Anya took up Tokunaga and opened the window.

"We could escape through here." She observed and the others turned to her, "The height won't cause much damage to us…well, I don't know about Natalia."

"Excuse me." Natalia crossed her arms across her chest, "Just because I'm a princess-"

"Is this really the time?" Guy asked exasperated and Anya put her head out to check for footholds.

"Perfect" she muttered and then turned her head back, "Mieu, could you go wake up Anise?" Holding Tokunaga she motioned for Elena to come and she piggy-backed her again. It was a little dangerous but she could reach their destination slowly.

"Anise! Anise." Mieu chirped loudly and Luke literally ran away towards the window to escape as planned. The locked door was being tried to open with loud bangs every second and Anise's eyes flew open at the commotion.

"W-what happened-what are we-" she stuttered when Jade interrupted.

"Kimlascan soldiers have arrived. We must get out. NOW!" he motioned for them to go on ahead before him and Anise looked down the window.

"But I'm so sleepy." She whined, "I can't focus." She yawned again when Jade shook his head and picked her up.

"Colonel, you're such a sweethe-what!" He sat her at the windowsill and jumped down landing easily.

"That's not fair." She screamed and the others looked at Jade wildly.

"Well, if you would care to come down yourself we could take you along with us but seeing as how you're content with staying up there-"

"Booo. Fine!" she shouted in annoyance and then jumped down on wobbly legs. "Oww! This is entirely your fault Colonel."

Guy simply shook his head at the two, "I don't believe them." There was a loud noise of the door being thrown open by force and confused shouts form above.

The party immediately took off towards the Laboratory and caught the eyes of a few Kimlascan soldiers who were guarding outside a few buildings probably waiting for their comrades to come back after inspection.

"Halt!" there was a rough command from nearby and the guard stepped in front of them. "You! Surrender yourself-" he was pointing his spear in Jade's direction when Luke interrupted.

"Not a chance." He shouted and then tried to hit the guy's head with the hilt of his sword but this angered the soldier.

"All of you. We are under orders-"

"Shut up!" Sasha interrupted and shot at a part of his abdomen that wasn't covered by the metallic armor. The guard howled and they took off again. It was just around the corner. They screeched to a stop and Guy tried the door knob. He frowned as it didn't open and rattled it around a few times.

"It's locked?!" Anise asked wildly, "Now what do we do?" The moment she said that it was as if Yulia had sent Aston to open the door a crack.

"Oh it's you-" he was cut off as they all rushed inside and Guy held the door closed but a few Kimlascan soldiers dared to barge in.

"We've got to get out of here." Luke told them in a hurry.

"We were spotted by Kimlascan soldiers" Anya told them and they nodded understandably while Iemon worked on the machines with screens in front.

"The Albiore's set and read to fly." Tamara announced proudly and Noelle emerged from a side room wearing her earlier outfit.

"Guys, ready to go then?" she asked cheerfully and they all nodded.

"Could we make it fast?" Guy asked gritting his teeth in effort to hold those soldiers back.

Noelle motioned for them to enter the aircraft and Aston put the bolt on the door after countless efforts.

"Wish us luck guys." Luke told the three elderly who mouthed 'hurry up' to them and Noelle took off the moment the bolt gave in and the door crashed open and Anise silently asked for forgiveness for doing his to them.

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"Aaaah!" Anise's panicked shout reached their ears in the middle of the flight, "I forgot Tokunaga. I don't believe this I-" the others shook their heads and Anya handed the doll to Anise.

"What were you doing with it?" Anise asked the woman, "I understand Tear wanting something like this but-"

"W-what?" Tear blushed and looked away.

"You didn't seem so keen on bringing it along." Anya replied sweetly, "So I got it." She stopped for a second then, "You're supposed to thank me." She sighed dramatically, something she had picked up from Jade quite fast.

"H-hey look!" Elena suddenly pointed out something in the sky and Anise pressed her face to the window.

"It's the Terracon." She exclaimed.

"Really?!" Natalia saw it too and with a sudden burst of speed, the aircraft came in line with the Albiore. Anise waved happily and so did Selphie.

"Wow! Why did we even bother with all of this?" Luke looked at the Albiore which was in a way much larger than the Terracon and much much faster which Guy hadn't been able to stop himself from observing and launch into an explanation until Anise had fallen asleep.

The moment the aircrafts touched land they all scrambled out and Selphie came running over to them.

"Hey you guys! How did it all go?" she skipped on her heels and then turned her eyes towards the Albiore. "Wow! I've got to go back home and tell Headmaster about this."

"Selphie." Anya smiled at the airhead, "What happened? How come you're still here? I thought you had gone back to Midgard."

"Seriously?" she asked her former Instructor, "I wasn't dying to go back you know. Besides, the area around Engeve even looked like it would cave in. Not right now, but yeah, it seems dangerous." She told them at the horrified look on Natalia's face.

"We evacuated these citizens to Engeve for saving them and…" Natalia looked distraught.

"Hey, it's alright" Selphie said cheerfully, "I took those citizens and a few more from Engeve to Yulia City."

"What?" Anya asked, "How and why did you do that? Come to think of it, who told you about Yulia City in the first place?"

"Calm down." She replied, "Anise and I were talking one day and well, she told me about the 'Secret City' which is Yulia City."

"I'm sorry Tear." Anise looked up at the brunette, "I didn't mean to simply give away classified information like that but-"

"It's alright" Tear assured her, "Besides, it's proved helpful."

"But you could have gone to so many other places to evacuate them." Guy pointed out, "Why the particular area?"

"Simply because it's not a part of the Outer Lands." She replied and when most of them didn't seem to understand, Jade cut in to stop them from wasting time.

"Because it's not part of The Outer Lands, there are no chances of earthquakes or falling of land." He told them in the shortest possible way and they caught on, "Now if we can proceed to rescue the remaining citizens…"

"Oh my" Natalia exclaimed, "What an irresponsible princess." She muttered and marched forward.

"Heh, now that's like our princess." Luke grinned and followed with the others already ahead.

The moment they reached the citizens they could see that land had gone lower within the last week. They heard the whizzing sound of the Albiore which overtook them and landed gently and lowered the staircase to let the people into the aircraft.

"Is that-" Senior McGovern was astonished but Jade interrupted.

"Sir, we do not have time at hand. Please hurry." The old man nodded and the other citizens followed with only Luke and his group remaining outside.

"Guys, wait!" Anya suddenly said, "There's something I need to do."

"What is it?" Luke asked, a little alarmed, and Anya smiled at him reassuringly.

"Nothing to worry about." She replied and then called Selphie closer. "Do me a favor, can you?"

"Of course" the younger girl replied in bewilderment.

"Since we've got the Albiore with us now, I think it's time you go back to Garnet City."

"But-"

"Listen" Anya interrupted in a strict tone, "Firstly, Garnet City will have no choice but to kick me out if they come to know that I've been using the Terracon for my personal use and I don't want anything to happen to you. Get it?" Selphie nodded half-heartedly. She didn't want to go back, not yet. It was fun roaming around in places even though it was all work without pay but still…

"And the important thing" Anya wasn't done yet, "Take Sasha and Elena with you back to Midgard." Elena's cry of protest was lost when Anya glared at her like the older sister she was. "I don't want anything like Rin again." It stung when she had to use her best friend's name especially when reminded of her death.

"Fine" Sasha said and put n arm around Elena, "We'll see Anya when she comes back after all this drama. And you guys" she looked at the others, "Do keep in touch." Guy bowed down in a noble fashion and they all bid the three farewell. Anya stood with the others, not wanting truly to let go of them after having stayed together for so long but it wasn't as if she was going to cry right?

"Hey!" Sasha came and hugged her best friend, "It's okay. Take care and the cream's in Luke's item bag." Anya withdrew with a bewildered look and then laughed uncontrollably as she realized what Sasha was talking about.

"How d'you know?" she asked and Sasha grinned.

"I'm a very organized person; I know when someone goes snooping through my bag." She replied and laughingly waved them and vanished inside the Terracon. Elena ran up to Anya and kissed her cheek.

"Please, don't be too long." She pleaded and Anya nodded.

"I'll try" she told her and was going to walk her towards the Terracon when the little girl suddenly turned and ran up to Jade.

"You'll miss me won't you?" she asked in a chirpy tone and Jade patted her head in an older man fashion. Her action had been so sudden and unexpected; he could expect her to show this same emotion to someone else but him??

"Of course." He said and funnily he meant it in a way. Then laughingly he added, "I was hoping you'd make a fine test subject for my first child based experiments. I'm afraid Anise will have to replace you then."

Elena sighed dramatically, "Oh no! I'll be here whenever you need me Jade or should I call you uncle Jade? I can't let Anise take all the honor now can I?" He laughed at her optimistic response and then realized he would rather have a Kimlascan soldier stab him than let her call him uncle. He wasn't one to be close to children and uncle was way beyond his tastes.

"No uncles now" he told her, "I'd sound like an old man then." Anya laughed and walked Elena away from where Sasha and Selphie waved to them.

"What was that about?" Anya asked Jade once she was back, "Not feeling up to being an old man anymore?"

"Oh no" he said rather airily, "My age is taking its toll on my backbone finally, I suggest we head for the Albiore." He walked away with a smirk and Luke stared at his retreating back.

"Can't say anything simply, can he?" he muttered and Guy shrugged.

"I guess he wouldn't be Jade then." He replied and they followed the colonel to the Albiore.

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On reaching Yulia City they were met by Teodoro who looked rather distressed with all the sudden turn of events.

"I never thought the world would have deviated so much from the Score" he told them not really noticing the citizens of they had in their company.

"Mayor Teodoro" Jade stepped up, "While we are in conference about the current situation, could the citizens of be allowed to rest?" Teodoro looked up and apologized for not having been more hospitable.

"Of course" the old man replied and they headed deeper into the city. Guy looked as though he was restraining from something and Natalia couldn't help asking him what the matter was when she saw how restless he was acting.

Guy held back for a second and then, "Dawn Age. Dawn age technology." He replied breathlessly. Both Luke and Anise groaned quite conspicuously and Natalia glared at them.

"You don't have to be so rude about that." She scolded them in authoritative manner putting her hands on her hips, "Maybe Guy does have a fetish for such things-"

"You don't have to put it like that" Guy told her with an indignant look and Natalia apologized for no reason at all.

The moment everyone took their seats in the conference hall, Luke stood up and Natalia and Guy gave encouraging glances in his direction. He was learning how to take proper charge these days.

"I'll get to the point" he said, "Is there anything we can do to save ?"

Toedoro thought for a moment, "I'm afraid it takes a seventh Fonist to control the passage rings. There are three seals altogether that keeps the Sephiroth tress intact. But without the key of Lorelei it is difficult…"

"There's no problem with seventh fonists" Natalia announced, "Tear, Luke and I are seventh fonists."

"Is there really nothing we can do?" Anise asked losing hope.

"If you were to revive the Sephiroth trees by using the passage rings then there is still a chance that wouldn't sink into the mud if indeed it is still afloat." He explained.

"So where is the passage ring that controls the Sephiroth for ?" Tear asked.

"Shurrey hill" he replied, "It is in the Eastern ."

"So it probably sank along with " Luke reasoned and then got up, "We have to go there. Even if Master Van undid the seals and tampered around with the passage rings we have to give a try, right?" He looked around at his comrades and Anise nodded vigorously while the others agreed getting up.

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"Owww!" Luke suddenly held his head in his hands as they landed outside Shurrey hill.

'Dreck, can you hear me?' Asch's voice sounded relatively low compared to his usual tone.

'Yeah' Luke replied back with effort. Asch's sudden appearance in his head had hit hard. What were those things called? Neurons? He felt like those had tangled up in his head or something.

'Where are you right know? okay, Shurrey Hill'

'You can see through my eyes?' Luke asked in disbelief. His original could control use him so easily and he still hadn't been able to master himself at that. Goddamnit, why couldn't he simply be left alone?

'Yeah. Listen, Van's taking the fon master and me to Tataroo Valley at the moment'

'Why you?'

'He thinks I'll be running away if left alone' Luke heard Asch laugh slightly at that and realized it was the first time he had heard Asch displaying any light emotion.

"Aww, there's no way inside" Anise's voice reached Luke as Asch left and Luke felt a little lonely all of a sudden. They all looked around and Luke filled them in on everything Asch had just told him.

"More work for us" Anise said airily and then ran around to see a strange looking red fon stone set a little higher than their level.

'Hey, Ion says you have to use fifth fonon on the fon stones.' Asch's voice surprised Luke once again but it didn't hurt so much like last time.

'how many of those things do we have to activate?' Luke asked mentally while trying to recall what exactly was the fifth fonon.

'three. I'm leaving you to your dirty work'

"Wait! What about Ion?" Luke shouted to Asch in his mind without realizing he had actually just spoken but there was no answer and the annoying furry cheagle jumped up to meet his eyes.

"Master! Are you sick?"

"What the hell makes you ask that?" he asked checking for any fever.

"You were talking to yourself. Mad people-"

"SHUT UP!!" Luke fumed while Anise laughed and he kicked Mieu so that he bounced on the ground with a wail of "Masteeeer Hellllp".

"Luke" Tear immediately turned to him with an angry expression and Luke groaned inwardly.

"Fine, I'll go get Thing now." He shouted and hurried away. "Besides we can't undo the lock without you." Luke muttered and picked up the blue cheagle which stared up at him with large eyes apologizing again and again making Luke feel like sort of monster himself.

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_Anya…_It was all that plagued her mind. _Anya…_Freya shook her head to rid herself of the thought of that inferior woman. A smile crossed her lips as she remembered Asch's expression the previous day when she had arrived at the meeting. He had been shocked to say at the least and had gone on about how he hated replicas but she hadn't bothered explaining her situation and instead Van had come to her aid 

saying that there were much more sinister occurrences in this world than fomicry. She was sure that Asch had understood that neither she nor Anya were replicas but hadn't gotten the full idea of everything. It wasn't time yet for any of Asch's or should she say Luke's friends? Yes, Luke's friends didn't need to know anything about her just now. In fact she could use this lack of theirs to her advantage. Anya deserved something big, something very very hurtful and she had just the right idea. Only she had to wait. Wait until later.

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"Okay" Luke turned to the group his eyes lingering a second longer on Tear to check if she was going to be alright. She looked much paler than usual but when she didn't cough or anything he turned back to them, "So we're done with one Sephiroth-"

"Which means just a few more to go. We could get over the one in Daath-" Anise stopped in mid-sentence and Luke tilted his head at her and Jade raised an eyebrow.

"In Daath?" the colonel gave her a scanning look and she laughed nervously.

"Ah ha-ha. I just thought maybe you know, because it's the base of Order of Lorelei there might be something." She looked up at the colonel with what she called her 'most adorable puppy eyes' and he sighed. Anise gulped and wondered what she could do to remove suspicion from the Colonel's mind. The others were fine, they had seemed to buy the story except maybe Guy and Anya who didn't seem to think it was that serious either and didn't pry.

"So now we head to Engeve?" Natalia asked Luke once they were in the Albiore. Luke turned to her with an annoyed look.

"What? Am I like the leader now?" he asked and Natalia clapped her hands together once with a cheerful expression and Luke shook his head at her then went over to Noelle to tell her where to head.

"Alright you guys" Noelle started the ignition, "Hold tight to your seats now." With that the humming of the machinery began and they were off in a few seconds. After quite sometime of flying around they found the dividing line and made their way back into the Outer Lands.

"Whew" Anise looked at the blue skies, "At least we're back up here."

"Yeah" Anya replied, "You never appreciate certain things until they've slipped from your hands." Anise looked a little hurt at that as she thought of Ion and just what exactly Mohs was planning to do. If Ion kept reading the Score he would weaken and then…

"Anise!" Anya's call rang out from beside her and she turned large eyes at the older woman who looked slightly worried, "Are you alright? You looked kind of…" she trailed of and simply smiled, "Don't think too much, okay?" Anise nodded wondering if she knew what she was about to do. "We're all under stress here."

"And this is just the beginning" Anise replied to Anya who nodded and told her that if she needed to clear out her head ever she could always talk to someone from among them. What Anise did know however was that after she revealed her true-self not even Anya would care to offer comforting words.

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"Why?!" Natalia couldn't believe her eyes as she looked down at the Rugnican Plains where red and blue clashed with a deeper red flowing everywhere she looked. Spears, fire and smoke filled the skies below the Albiore. "Why are they fighting like this?"

"Both armies could be completely wiped out" Jade told them with a grim look and Anise held her head in frustration.

"You mean because there's no Sephiroth tree to hold the region anymore, it's on the verge of falling any moment?" Jade nodded and the others cast worried looks.

"Van wanted this" Tear suddenly interrupted and everyone turned to her, "He wanted to annihilate the Outer Lands and because the Score said that a war would evolve then…"

"Stopping the Sephiroth from holding up the region so that the entire area collapses...Wow!" was all Anya could say at the moment. Van did think things through. In fact he was probably the most cunning being alive she had ever crossed paths with.

"An efficient choice of method for mass murder." Jade commented and Guy threw him a now's-not-the-time-to-kid-around look and then turned his head towards the windows.

"Is there no way that the war could be stopped?" he asked and Anya spoke up after a long time of thinking.

"Didn't Emperor Peony say that Kimlasca wanted to issue a war because Luke and Natalia were supposed to be dead?" she looked around and Natalia looked up finally tearing her eyes away from the scene in front of her.

"If they were to see Natalia and Luke alive" Jade stated, "Then there's a minimal chance that war _could _be averted."

"Slim chance" Guy commented and then looked at Luke, "Hey, how about you and Natalia head out for Kaitzur? That's where the Kimlascan army is sure to be stationed."

"Yes" Natalia looked a little hopeful at the suggestion, "I'm sure if we asked them to cease fire they will likely stop the war."

"Yeah" Luke gave an encouraging look in her direction, "But I'm worried about Engeve."

"So are we" Anya piped in, "That's why some of us can go to Engeve and you and Natalia can get to Kaitzur with-" she looked around, "-those who you want to accompany you."

"I'll head to Engeve" Jade told them immediately, "They won't cooperate unless someone from the Malkuth army is present."

Luke and Natalia decided to take Tear along with them mainly because Luke wanted to keep an eye on Tear, not that he was very much worried but even so. He couldn't help admitting that having Tear around gave him a certain sort of strength he needed for all the work ahead. It was important; it was one possible pathway to his atonement for Akzeriuth's destruction.

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Jade entered Chesedonia with the rest of his group trailing after along with the residents of Engeve most of who were just fine except a few of them including Miriam whose husband and son had died in Akzeriuth and Anya had backed away from the woman realizing that this was John's mother. It still made her feel guilty somewhere deep within knowing that she had been helpless at that moment although Jade told her not to feel responsible for any of that. And the moment Miriam had tried to help Guy by picking up something he had left behind unfortunately she had come too close and Guy had almost pushed her away which made him worry as to why he was being so jumpy and Jade had assured him that it was the atmosphere caused by the war. Anya couldn't help seeing just what an amazing leader he made even though strict and heartless at times but he was still a great man. And she still didn't want to feel for him, it was all so confusing but for the moment there were other things to take care about.

"Luke!" Anise's shout interrupted her chain of thoughts thankfully and she looked up to see Luke's group coming along from the other direction.

"Hey you guys" Luke's grin stretched from ear to ear as he slapped Guy at the back lightly and Jade inquired them about the cease fire.

"They refused" Natalia told them, upset, "Count Almandine; the Supreme Commander is the one in control and he's here for a conference with Mohs."

"So what are we waiting for?" Anise cried out and made her way towards the bar where there was no doubt some shade available when she suddenly cried out Mohs's name and they all whipped around to see the Grand Maestro with a man dressed in Kimlascan military uniform.

"Count Almandine" Natalia immediately came in his path with her arms across her chest, "Weren't you informed by the Emperor of Malkuth that Luke and I were perfectly alive?" The man stuttered a little as he took in the sight of the two Kimlascan royalty but Mohs interrupted.

"If it's a cease fire you've come to command for then I suggest you return to the dumps you belong to." Mohs told her in a rude tone and Natalia almost choked on her next words at the comment. Luke stepped forward without hesitance and was virtually nose to nose with the short man.

"How the hell did you dare say things like that to Natalia? She's the princess-" But Mohs interrupted with a wave as though Luke was unimportant also.

"A commoner whose stolen the title of the princess, that's what she is and you too boy." He turned his words at Luke who looked surprised and then started to realize that it was because he was a replica but Natalia…He looked around at his cousin who was looking at the ground as though she would start crying.

Sync's words came back to the princess and she hoped with everything that he had merely been trying to confuse her to get Ion and Asch but Mohs's words…he sounded so confident about it all and his next words broke her.

"All this I tell you right now is no bluff. I've had this information coming from a reliable source of the Order Of Lorelei" with that he turned to Count Almandine and signaled that the battle had started and he turned to them a last time.

"Do not oppose the Score. Never do that. Tear, Anise, I would have thought you wouldn't have been foolish enough working for the Order but this thing" he pointed at Luke, "and that impostor has confounded you. The Score will be fulfilled with this war and we will achieve our promised prosperity." He laughed victoriously and walked off. Luke turned back to them and announced that they should go meet Astor to see if anything could be done. Guy turned to Natalia who was off into her own world.

"Hey, we don't know if what that Mohs said was true, alright?" When she nodded at him he smiled his graceful smile which could lift the heart of any woman, of course he didn't need to know that. "Let's go then." And with a motion for her to go before he followed keeping an eye out for any other people bound to harass the poor princess. She didn't need this, hell this was too much for a young girl. It was a pity he couldn't put an arm around her shoulder or something of the sort to make her feel better. But he would find a way out of all this; get over his phobia and then…he had no idea why he wanted the princess so much despite his fear of women. Maybe he just needed a special woman to smooth down his special condition. Could it be the Kimlascan Princess? And if so wouldn't that simply end up being futile? He was still a servant of House Fabre and there was no place for those thoughts now but in time he would have to make it work.

**Whew, I cut out a lot of things cuz I know how much they can bore the writer and reader to death. Anyway I need a little help from you guy. I want to start a new fic on Toa section not now, it will be much later cuz I have to finish this up too. I just suddenly wanna write a modern day fic without all the fonon ideas and all, but I dunno if I should set it up in Aludrant or just our place, you know, Earth. So yeah, any suggestions? I don't mind them in reviews or PMs. And it's not gonna be a high skool fic, no way. Bye you guys.**

**Van: Review please, any criticism review allowed.**


	20. Baticul's people,Luke's existence

**Chapter twenty**

"Ah, do come in." Astor's quivery laugh accompanied the request as they came in.

"We have a favor to ask." Luke put forward as Astor dismissed his informant, "We've evacuated-"

"I have been informed about that by the Fon Master." Astor interrupted him and they all turned shocked looks at the man.

"Ion?!" Anise broke away form the rest of them and eagerly ran towards Astor, "He is here?" Astor nodded and clapped for one of his attendants to go fetch Ion while Anya held back Anise from following the attendant and another informant came in.

"Sir, the conditions of the Zao desert has gotten worse and a few civilians were injured in the earthquake in the area."

"So there have been earthquakes in these parts too?" an astonished Tear asked Astor.

"We have to do something about it." Luke tried to think hard in a panicky state. They had evacuated the citizens of Engeve here but it wasn't possible to transport these people anywhere else.

"We haven't allowed any of the citizens to venture outside the city." Astor told them, "It's very much dangerous at the moment."

Jade seemed to be thinking something and then sighed grimly, "Since we don't have any way of transporting the people from harm's way, the only alternative I suppose is to lower the land."

Luke gaped at him, "But that would cause a lot of problems."

"Minor causalities." He replied, "It would better than letting an entire state cave in like Akzeriuth." He pointedly looked at Luke and Guy stepped in to prevent the redhead from brooding over that incident again.

"If that's the resolution we have at hand, then we'll have to visit the Sephiroth for Chesedonia." He looked at Luke who nodded with a thankful smile.

"That's the Zao Ruins I suppose." Anya put in and Anise suddenly freed herself from the woman's grip as she rushed towards the Fon Master who had just entered looking tired but smiling all the same.

"Ion, where were you?" Anise had started speaking even before anyone else had time to greet him, "Do you have any idea how worried I was? Did the Commandant make you do anything unhealthy? Tell me, tell me!" she began checking his wrists and fussing over. It was a real cute scene to watch, Tear thought. If only the there was no tension of the upcoming journey.

"Ion wouldn't thin down by unsealing Daathic seals if that's what you're worried about." Anya told her laughingly and then pulled her back with a roll of her eyes at the Fon Master.

"Yes Anise, do let the rest of us have a word with Ion." Jade said with a teasing tone and then turned to Ion more seriously, "Weren't you supposed to be with Commandant Grants?"

"Yes" Ion replied as he looked at all of them, "But Asch escaped taking me along from Tataroo Valley."

"What?" Luke looked askance at him, "But master Van was with you, how did you guys just escape him?" It seemed improbable that Asch had actually gotten away from their former teacher, no matter how skilled his original was.

"Hyperresonance." Ion told them and both Jade and Tear understood immediately what had happened.

"Commandant Grants hadn't realized that he was taking along two seventh fonists." Jade commented and Luke seemed to understand too with the rest of them.

"So it's the exact same thing that happened to us back at the manor?" he directed at Tear who nodded.

"Yes, It was thoughtful of Asch." She stated and Natalia looked up for the first time.

"Asch? What about him?" she asked as she looked around and then noticed Ion for the first time. "Oh my, Ion. When did you come by?"

"Looong back." Anise told her in a sing song voice, "But you were too busy thinking about a certain redhead." She didn't want to mention the entire issue about Mohs' previous encounter right now.

"I am sorry." The princess replied to Ion who smiled at her kindly.

"Is something the matter?" he asked her, "You seem more out of it."

"More than usual you mean." Guy muttered with a tired smile and turned to Jade, "Hey, shouldn't we be heading for the Zao Ruins? I mean we don't exactly have all the time in the world."

"Yes. Natalia, let's not let ourselves worry about something groundless." Jade motioned towards the exit as the princess looked up blankly again.

"Yes" she shook her head, "It is the duty of a princess to look for the people first." With that she made her way outside with the rest of them.

But as soon as they exited Astor's mansion they were met by…

"Mohs!?" Luke's shout rang out and several passersby stared at him but he didn't have eyes for anybody else except the man who had just put his cousin into doubt about her whole life. To find out that you weren't who you had based yourself upon and grown was one hell of a torture.

"Impostors." The Maestro muttered audibly and someone else suddenly grabbed him by the collar from behind.

"Don't you dare call Natalia that, you bastard" Asch screamed in rage as he shook the man roughly, "She's the Kimlascan Princess and you have no business in whatever lineage she comes from."

"Asch!" Natalia looked scared as she had a hand over her mouth, "Let him go. Please, don't fight." He looked at her and shoved away the man as he tried to calm down and he turned away to go outside.

"Where are you going Asch?" Luke asked from behind while keeping an eye on Mohs.

"You do whatever it is you have to." The other redhead replied without looking back, "Save them. I have to find out more about Van's objectives."

"Asch" Natalia ran forward, "Come with us. This way we all can work together to find out about his motives."

"Yeah" Guy put in "We're all looking for the same thing aren't we?"

"No!" Asch immediately responded, "I have no intention of being friendly with the replica and his lot." Natalia looked scandalized at this and Asch walked away despite her calling.

"If you'll allow me." Ion looked at them, "I wish to return to Daath for the moment."

"Yes, fon Master" Mohs nodded with a toad-like smile, "Please allow me to accompany you. The people of Daath have been waiting for you return."

"But Ion-" Anise looked up sadly when Ion put a hand on her shoulder.

"Anise, you may remain here." He smiled at her congenially, "Please everyone. Take care of Anise for me." Luke nodded still glaring at Mohs who was ignoring him and the two were gone.

"Okay" Anise put on a bright smile, "On to the hot, dusty, sandy parts of Auldrant again."

"Well, aren't we cheerful?" Anya commented and they set out for the Zao Ruins.

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Noelle sat at the bar wondering when Luke and the others would be back. Guy had explained to her that without a refined flight stone, it wouldn't be possible for her to land the Albiore and they didn't need to be facing any problems regarding the Albiore now. She sipped on the orange juice and threw a tempting look at the sparkling wine Noir held in her hand. The red haired woman trotted towards her with her company trailing behind.

"Where's that handsome young boy?" Noir asked pleasantly.

"You mean Guy?" Noelle asked immediately and regretted the response when Noir smiled knowingly. True, Guy was probably the one she had her eye on but still, it was nothing more than a mere crush. "They're gone to lower the land."

"Didn't take you along?" Noir asked and Noelle shook her head.

"Aircraft problems." She replied and then wondered what she was supposed to talk about, "So, you guys are the Dark Wings?"

"Yeah." Urushi replied.

"The black Dream might be a better way you'd know us." York told her proudly and Noelle nodded.

"Luke's told me about running into you guys." She told them, "I did watch your circus performances."

"Oh really?" Noir asked, "Then you should come to our next one. We're planning to be setting it all up in Grand Chokmah."

"With the war and all, do you think you'd be able to?" Noelle asked.

"Everyone needs a break once a while." Urushi told her, "We normal folk who ain't soldiers wouldn't wanna sit around with the depressing talks all day."

"I guess." was all Noelle could reply to their thoughtful effort. It was probably the fact that the money held their attention but even so, there was a two way advantage here. The only thing she was good for was piloting and that hadn't much use. She remembered the other girl who had come with a smaller airship and thought of talking to Anya later about it.

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"Whoa! Look at the place" Anise commented as soon as they reached the exit of the Ruins. The sky was no longer blue due to the lowering of the entire land.

"You think we should return to Chesedonia and have Noelle fly us back to the Outer Lands?" Luke asked Jade who nodded and they set off into the desert again.

"Ugh! I don't believe this." Anise whined, "I'm sweating like hell."

"Yes, a sweaty princess!" Natalia looked alarmed, "What would the people say?"

"Err, should we really be worrying about that?" Guy asked the two and Anise glared at him.

"I was trying to lighten up the mood." She told him and then glanced at the Colonel, "You think something's up?" Anya and Tear threw a glance at the colonel.

"I guess it's kind of scary when Jade's concerned about something." Anya muttered and Tear nodded.

"Yes" Tear agreed, "I'm actually a little worried about what Luke said."

"You mean about how things went so smoothly?" Anya asked the sixteen year old and Jade turned to them, startling both the girls.

"There's nothing to worry about Luke's words, at least I don't think so." He reassured them, "But there's something in the Qliphoth I would like to investigate."

"That tone doesn't encourage me much." Anya told him. His expression changed from one of serious to his usual mockingly smiling one.

"I wouldn't be too tempted by my suspicions either." He replied grimly.

"Then I'm guessing there's no point in pestering you about it?" Anya told him and he smiled.

"Of course. How clairvoyant of you to know that." He commented in his sarcastic tone and she gritted her teeth in frustration. There was just no simple way with the man.

"Clairvoyant is the last thing you'd want me to be." Anya said with a knowing smile and Jade shrugged.

"It's nice to see you two getting along so well." Anise commented from in front of them as she eyed Jade and Anya cheekily, "I guess a night in Sheridan did some people here good." Anya choked on the water flask and Jade turned to the teenager.

"Oh yes? Why Anise, have you had a great opportunity for something important?"

"Yeah" Anya played along, "Like doing something unwanted?" Anise was momentarily caught off-guard at this and gaped at the Colonel.

"O-of course not." Anise said a little too defensively, "I was just checking up on Tokunaga."

"How come you didn't take him back?" Anya couldn't help asking. Something didn't seem right about her behavior.

"I didn't want you guys knowing I was still up." Anise replied and trotted off towards Natalia. Tear turned to the two older people who had suspicious looks fixed on Anise although Jade's wasn't that obvious.

"Is something the matter?" Tear asked and Anya shook her head.

"I just think she's up to something. But I don't know if we should be worried about it." She sighed and they walked on.

Jade had simply asked the puppet master the questions to divert her attention but it seemed as if he had caught on something. Could Anise be really doing something suspicious? If so, just how much at stake could their lives be? Or was he simply being paranoid? His suspicions usually turned out to be dead-on.

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"Hey you guys!" Noelle's cheerful greeting broke into Anise's thoughts much to her fortunate luck. "Where to now?"  
" Whoa!" Guy smiled at her, "We need to get back to the Outer Lands, but would it be all right for you?"

"Of course" She chirped out, "Shouldn't you guys be more tired? I was just sitting here and having a chat with the Dark Wings."

"Seriously?"Anise asked with wide eyes.

"Anyway." Luke intervened, "So how were things here when the land was lowered?"

"Apart from a few people who went homesick, everything was just fine. I mean it's gloomy and all." She looked up at the sickly reddish skies and sighed, "So when do we start? Shouldn't you guys get some rest?" Luke turned to look at Tear and so did the rest of them and when she realized a few seconds later that she was the one in spotlight she blushed.

"I'm fine. Thank you everyone but shouldn't we be more worried about someone else?" She jerked her head slightly towards Natalia who was the only one not paying attention to the group. Luke shook his head saying something about Tear being the 'Tough Soldier' and went over to his cousin.

"Hey, remember what Jade said? We still don't know if Mohs is being genuine." He told her and Tear put an arm around her shoulder rather awkwardly. She had never really done this comforting act before, had never had girl talks or anything of the sort.

"And I guess the people of Engeve were transported safely?" Anya asked her and she gave a nod.

"Yup, we arrived just before you guys went to the Desert." She looked at Guy, "He told me you guys could do it without me this time. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help."

"You kidding?" Luke goggled at her, "We couldn't have come this far without you." Noelle blushed.

"In that case," Jade motioned forward, "We should be heading towards the Outer Lands and on the way, could we fly around a bit? I need to check something."

"Of course." Noelle replied breathlessly at all the comments and then ran away to where the Albiore was docked.

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"Why do I have a feeing that something's terribly wrong?" Guy stared at Jade as the colonel continued looking outside the window.

"Look!" Anise suddenly pointed to an unusual area.

"That looks like fonon lights or something." Luke commented

Jade looked at them grimly and got down to business, "The Sephiroth Trees have reached their limit. Everyone gasped at this point.

"If that is so-" Tear was interrupted when Natalia stood up and frantically began pacing the airship.

"The Outer Lands are going to fall!" she squeaked out, "What should we do?"

"Lower the entire Outer Lands." Luke said and everyone looked at him as though he had gone crazy.

"But that's-" Anise was cut off when Luke took Natalia by the hand and made her sit down.

"Listen guys." He started, his throat dry, "Natalia especially, don't let anything else bother you now. We'll need all the concentration and time for the task ahead. Okay?" The princess nodded at this still confused and Luke looked them in the eye, everyone except Jade.

"I know this will take a toll on Tear and all of us but there's nothing we can do about it. We have to visit Baticul to ask Uncle to put a stop to the war and then move on to lowering the lands."

"You're talking about the entire world, you know." Jade gave him a skeptical look, "You maybe saying all of this now but when the time comes-"

"I've changed, haven't I?" He fired back at Jade's uncertainty, "I was intent on it, and I came here. I know I'll see this till the end. I promise this to you all." He looked at all of them and there was not an ounce of doubt left at the look in his eyes.

Jade chuckled, "I was merely trying to point out a possibility how you cannot always fulfill what you have taken up. There really was no point in playing the politician."

"Anyway." Guy intervened before Luke could do more than look angry, "What do we do now? We don't have much knowledge about Sephiroths."

"We don't know if any of this was written in the Closed Score." Luke suddenly piped up, "We should consult somebody."

"Yes." Tear put a hand under her chin, "The closed Score can be investigated by someone high in the Order. Even if we went to Yulia City, grandfather wouldn't allow us that privilege."

"So Ion could help us with that." Anise immediately piped in and Luke looked at them for confirmation. When they all agreed with Anise he turned to Noelle to head to Daath.

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"Easy access to the Fon Master's room?" Guy questioned, "I would have expected something a little more securitized."

"Yeah well, look at the number of stairs we have to climb to get to it." Luke grinned and Tear shook her head, Jade smirked.

"How do you expect to travel all over with that sort of stamina Luke?" Jade asked and Luke turned an enraged face towards him when the door to Ion's study opened and the fon Master was seen with loads of books.

"I thought you guys would need help." He said with a smile and held up a book, "I myself wanted to research a bit on Sephiroths." Luke could have gone and kissed him.

"Actually Ion." Guy stepped in, "We were wondering if part of everything that's happened was mentioned in the closed Score."

"That's the first I've heard of it." Ion said after sometime of thought. "I could check it out in the Chapel."

"You sure that's okay for you?" Luke asked knowing how tired Ion could get. But the Fon Master only nodded with his usual smile, eager to help.

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"I don't believe you let something like this happen." An infuriated Legretta flamed at Van. After all her efforts of de-transporting them and Sync's flawless methods, he had let them escape.

"Calm down." He told her with a flourish of his quill, "We'll find another way. I'm sure once we explain Mystearica about our entire replica scheme she'll be ready to join us."

"Then she'll never come along with us." Legretta told him as if he had gone mad, "If she hears about the replicas-"

"Once we show her how destructive following the Score can be, even she'd be ready to follow along to help for a better mankind."

"She seems rather taken by the replica these days." Legretta told him slowly watching for a reaction. He looked disgruntled.

"I don't believe my own sister." He muttered and then took up the paperwork that wouldn't be of any use once he had the replica idea in progress. But he had to act normal now.

"You suppose they'll come to Belkend?" she asked after sometime.

Van looked at her, "I know Asch will be tailing me for information. That I will give him but we'll have to go after the replica and his friends ourselves."

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"Okay, so the Score's already off-track?" Luke asked rubbing his head in frustration, "Because I was born?" Tear gave him a glare.

"Luke, don't start thinking-"

"There they are." Came a guard's rough voice and they turned to see three guards charging to attack them. Tear immediately drew out her daggers and stabbed one of them enough to give some time to escape.

"Go" Ion told them, "Anise, you too." The teen nodded and they dashed outside to the exit.

However the exit of the City was sealed by none other than-

"Dist!" Jade made a disgusted face, "Why do you always choose the wrong time to show up?"

"Grr. Shut up." The white haired man said, "Stop resisting, or this girl- hey where did she go?" he looked around frantically for the pilot he had kidnapped from the Albiore.

Noelle quickly hid behind the pizza man who had a body large enough to hide her small one and she watched the commotion. There was nothing she could do to help. If she showed up it would only cause trouble and Dist would no doubt take away the flight stone from her. She had immediately ducked behind a few crates in the Albiore when she heard Dist's voice and him searching the pilot's seat. A man in Daathic uniform had been extracting the flight stone by Dist's instructions. The moment Dist had turned away in his flying chair looking for her; she had sprinted and snatched the flight stone from the assistant.

Although fighting wasn't her area of expertise, Ginji had taught her some basic moves to help her out of situations like these. She'd have to thank him later for learning all the sneaky moves while playing hide-and-seek as kids. Dist's assistant, no doubt, had passed out as soon as she had pressed her thumb on his neck in that sensitive area. But Dist had heard his sudden cry of help and arrived a second later when Noelle had hid the flight stone in her pocket hoping the bulge wouldn't show. Dist had kept asking her about the flight stone ad when she tried to make a run for it, he had used some sort of arte on her and she had passed out. Sneaking away a second time had been child's play. She wondered why he was even a God-General.

"Take them away." She heard Dist's voice as he laughed at Jade's defeated position, "You look absolutely great like that."

"I'm honored by your compliment." Jade replied back with mock humor and Dist shouted at the guards to take them to Baticul.

Baticul? Why? And why did they all look so upset? Noelle's mind was in a whirl but she knew she had to get out of here before they were sent off and she got up but Pizza-dude forced her behind again.

"That Mohs wants them sent to Baticul. Heard something about the false Princess Natalia?" eh asked Noelle who stared at him shocked.

"No. That's the princess." She said pointing at Natalia, "What's this about false princess?"

"Really? You seem to know her. Mohs is full of it."The man told her, "Dunno if it's a rumor or not. But if what ya say is true, then they'll probably be punished."

"Punished?" Noelle squeaked with fear in her eyes.

"Mohs has been trying to turn us against the False Princess and Replica Luke Fon Fabre ever since the war stopped on the Rugnica plains." He told her, "But we civilians couldn't care less. As long as our business is not tampered from the stoppage of war, we'll be just fine."

"I see" was all Noelle could say as she swallowed wondering what she could do to help.

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"Meryl." Came a strict voice from Natalia's doorway and Luke and Natalia looked up, "And Replica Luke, you've both been permitted for execution."

"No!" Natalia exclaimed, "It can't be."

"Listen, don't do anything to Natalia." Luke started to oppose when Goldberg threw him a glare.

"Silence. Have the grace to die by your own- what's going-"he feinted into a deep sleep to their puzzle as soon as the door burst open and Tear came in with the others trailing behind.

"Guys, are you okay?" Anya asked as son as they arrived and Luke nodded.

"We must go immediately." Jade announced, "There's too much danger in the air."

"Yes." Natalia agreed. "But I want to speak to father once." Jade though about it and nodded leading them to the audience hall.

The moment Natalia had tried persuading the king they knew there was no reason to pry anymore. The king was going to listen to Mohs and recommence the War by having both the impostors executed. Asch came out of nowhere to the rescue and they all made a run for it.

"Princess Natalia!" came several shouts from the civilians, "You must go, we'll not let them get you." She nodded confusedly as to how they knew about her. They dashed towards the bridge to see The Dark Wings alerting the people and them coming to the rescue.

"It's them?" Luke asked, grateful to them.

Noir shouted out in the distance, "We'll take care of Asch. Go now, your pilot's waiting outside." They all nodded in acknowledgement and Natalia hoped that Asch would be alright.

"Noelle" Luke shouted in amazement as she motioned for them to hurry into the Albiore.

"Let's go, this way will be faster." She told them as soon as they got in. A lot of the soldiers had arrived outside already and were pointing towards them.

"They'll get to us if we don't take off." Jade announced and Noelle gave a thumbs-up.

"No worries." She called out and the next moment they were all airborne. Only unfortunately, only Jade and Guy had sat down. Anise crashed into Guy as the Albiore tipped to a side and he screamed out in panic within the commotion. Natalia grabbed Luke by the collar and they both fell to the ground where Tear barely managed to avoid being tripped by the cousin's feet and held onto a seat. Anya hit her head in the side of the wall but managed to remain on her feet although it took effort with all the stars she was seeing.

"Where to?" Noelle asked them once they settled down rather grumbingly, "Sorry about that." She smiled apologetically.

'I'll be going to Belkend now' came Asch's sudden voice and it startled Luke very much in all the commotion.

'So what?' he asked mentally and felt Asch grit his teeth in annoyance.

'So you go there too. I've got something from Ion to hand over.'

'What is-'before he could finish, Asch had gone and he turned muttering curses under his breath towards Noelle.

"On to Belkend then." He told her and she started the aircraft.

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As soon as they approached the laboratory, a guard arrived saying that Van had called for Luke whom he addressed as Commander of Special Operations.

"Quite a chance we have here." Jade commented slyly, "We should go see Van now."

"yeah" Luke replied and they walked inside.

"What if we're caught?" Natalia asked but Guy shrugged.

"I don't think there could be much of a problem. I mean what's the most that would happen?"

"Say Van gets pissed, what if we end up getting into a fight?" Anya asked and the blond considered but they had already arrived at the door to Van's room. Legretta looked up and so did Van who smirked.

"You spared me the trouble of going to look for you Tear." He said and Tear stiffened with a hand ready on the hilt of her dagger.

"What are you trying to do Van? Collapsing the Outer Lands?" her accusation rang out in the empty room and Legretta glared.

"I did what I had to." He told them, "Diverting the destruction of Auldrant from the Yulia's Score."

"But the Score's already off-track." Luke told him in confusion.

Anya looked at Luke and then turned to Van, "Luke's existence wasn't written in the Score, doesn't this alone change things?"

"You're wrong, instructor." Van told her and she felt a pang in her heart at the title used, "An useless diversion like that will not work for me. People still cling to the Score that is why I have to get rid of the Yulia's drug and its supporter Lorelei."

"Once the source of the Score is removed and these Score-bound fools will be eradicated, only replicas will persist." He told them with a laugh.

"The data at the Ortion Caverns." Jade muttered audibly enough for Van to hear who looked impressed.

"So you've found out about that too? Oh well, I suppose I would have to explain it to Tear someday anyway." Tear looked murderous now.

"Do you see what I'm on to now?" he directed at Tear and Guy, "Once replicas are created, they'll replace the dolls that live by the Score."

"But replicating an entire world? The people, the land!" Guy looked at him as he would a mental person.

"Hod." Van told him slowly, "Did you not oppose the humanity when they allowed Hod, our homeland to be destroyed knowing it was all in the Score? These humans who were tied to the Score." He asked the blond noble who looked confused now. What was he supposed to do? Yes he had wanted revenge for Hod but in this extreme a method? He hadn't known what Van's mind had been planning.

"Asch's is here commandant." Legretta announced and the redhead arrived in a furious state but Van smiled.

"Why Asch, It seems I cannot proceed with my plan without your hyperresonance" the brown haired man said, "Join me and I will offer you a place to survive. My sister has refused and so has my former master."

"Then don't expect me to take pity and join you." Asch said in a careless tone, "Use the replica if you need the hyperresonance."

"He's trash. Useless being that cannot even control his own power." Van stated and Tear drew out her weapon finally with a determined look. Legretta was about to draw her guns when Van motioned for her to stop.

"DO you really want to end up dying here? Don't you have something more important to do?" he asked. Natalia looked Luke.

"We have to lower the Outer Lands." She told him and Van laughed.

"Which won't be of any use at the end. It would have been neater had you not opposed me." He said and Jade grabbed Tear's hand that had almost thrown the dagger at Van's direction.

"There's no point in a clash, it's guaranteed we wouldn't be able to stand up to him." The Necromancer drilled his eyes into Van's and Tear lowered her hand.

"Well then get out of here!" Asch shouted at Luke and Legretta told them to do the same.

"And you?" Luke asked the original as he was about to exit, right then Asch grabbed him by the collar and pulled him outside roughly.

"I'm coming too of course." He said gritting his teeth and Luke smiled.

"thanks for helping us out at the tight spots Asch." He said and Asch looked ready to kill him right then and there.

"I was not helping you. Come to the inn. I want to get over the business with you as fast a possible." With that he turned away despite Natalia's call to escape the replica's presence.

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"Okay. So on to Daath now?" Anise asked cheerfully at the thought of seeing Ion.

"Yeah" Luke said, "We need Ion to unlock the Daathic seals and we need to take the measurements later. Without Ion none of it is possible so yeah. Let's go Noelle." Noelle gave thumbs-up and they flew away.

An hour later when everyone had been talking only Natalia had remained quiet and Anise nudged Guy with the item bag.

"Do something will you?" she whispered fiercely and he looked scared at that.

"But what can I-okay fine fine" he gave in when Anise threatened to hug him.

"Hey Natalia" he called and she looked up with red eyes that told of silent crying.

"Y-yeah? I'm fine" she told him even before anyone had asked and then buried her head. Guy sighed and sat beside her which surprised them all.

"You know there's still a chance that things will be just fine." She looked up and he smiled, "The people of Kimlasca love you, not the princess. That's why if you're not alright it would upset them. You don't want that now do you?" She nodded with a smile and then Guy let out something he shouldn't say but he wanted to, he had to say it or it might just come out at some wrong time.

"And if no one there wants to accept you, then you can come to Malkuth and stay with me anytime. I'd be happy to welcome you with open arms" He said and she laughed out in surprise.

"I never thought you'd say that." She replied wiping her eyes on her sleeve, "I must admit, you've got me blushing." Anise gave a sly look in Guy's direction sure to use this line to tease him later.

"I'm sorry for crying. Thank you Guy." She said and was about to hug him when he tipped backwards ad fell from his seat. Natalia apologized sheepishly and the others laughed.

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"Passage rings, passage rings." Anise sang along as they exited the Sheridan's Meeting hall with the measuring device and Ion smiled at her playfulness.

"So we head to Tataroo Valley now?" Luke asked in slight tension.

"Yup and then-what is she doing here?!" Anise's surprised cry caused them all to look front where Arietta was standing with her liger friend.

"I've found you Anise, and you know who told me you were here? Your mother said I could find you conspiring with your murderer friends." She said and Anise laughed threateningly.

"Then she obviously doesn't know what a wimpy brat you are Gloomietta." She fired back and Arietta asked the liger to charge at Anise who was standing with Ion. Aston the old man who had come out to bid them luck saw this and immediately took the hit positioning himself in front of Ion.

"Aston no!" Natalia tried to heal him and Ion apologized for this but he only laughed.

"If I was able to protect the Fon Master Ion, I'm one honored old soul. It's the least I can do at my age." He said and passed out. Anise glare at Arietta who looked shaken at having missed her target and even more when Jade pressed his spear to her throat.

"Aaah, let me go. I'll come back later. LATER!" she screamed attracting passersby who were trying to avoid being tangled I the commotion and she walked away with a threatening glance at Anise.

Guy looked at the spot where Natalia was healing Aston and muttering things but none of this was his concern. The exact same thing had happened years ago, in Hod. He was beginning to remember. The blood, the bodies…Mary…Oh God.

"Guy" Luke came over to the blond who was kneeling down on the hard ground, "We're taking Aston to hi s house-what's wrong?" the redhead saw the blond look up with distressed look.

"I….I remember." Was all he said.

**I'm so sorry for not being able to review or read anyone else's story right now, my browser's getting to me and it's stopped working. Anyway guys, review.**


	21. Childhood:Asch and Natalia

**Hey guys, I'm seventeen, seventeen,seventeen.It';s my birthday so I felt like updating.Thanx for keeping me writing so far all of you. Enjoy this chapter.**

**Chapter twenty one**

_How can i face everyone?Fathere, what have i done to make you feel this way?-Natalia_

"Where's Guy?" Tear asked after leaving Aston's house and on their way to Tataroo Valley.

"I dunno" Luke said looking around; "He looked upset about something and he also said he remembered something."

"Something important?" Jade inquired.

"Well." Anya started as she looked around, "Knowing Guy he's probably somewhere with some fon machinery even if it's to distract himself."

"Yes." Anise piped up and then dramatically pointed to a telescope set high up in a tower, "What if he's there?"

"Probably." Luke said with a grin and hurried away with the others.

The moment she saw Guy sitting on the ground with his head cradled in his arms, his blue eyes staring far into the sea ahead, Natalia's heart went out to him. He looked so…so hurt, so miserable. She had never known Guy to have been without smiles and now looking at him was making her world all the more heartrending.

"We've been looking for you" Natalia said softly as she went and stood beside him. He looked up and looked away again.

"Could we ask what you remembered?" Tear prodded, "If it's not too…personal I suppose." After a few moments of silence he started.

"I remembered everything about the Hod War, how everyone died in my manor." He paused but no one said anything and he continued.

"Duke Fabre just barged in and ordered for everyone to be killed. The women, children, and all the maids. He commanded them to show no mercy." Luke thought he was going to be sick listening to all this talk about his father. Could he really have been so ruthless?

"At the time, I was still a kid. My sister didn't tell me what was wrong but you could hear the noises of the war. It was enough to frighten anyone. And then the soldiers just came in and—and." He broke off for a second regaining his breath and then continued fiercely. It seemed as if once he had started talking there was no way he could stop without finishing the entire story.

"There was blood everywhere. They all were killed, my maids. All of them died to protect me and my sister…she died last and I was buried under the bodies and covered in blood. Everyone thought I had died for sure but old Pere still cared to look through and he found me unconscious. By that time I had forgotten all bout this." Once he finished however, the females in the party looked horrified.

"Guy, you must forgive me for all the times I-" Natalia broke off looking for words to justify her action but Guy merely shrugged it off.

"Hey, it's okay. I was long back. Things have changed now alright. There's really-"

"But even so." Anya cut in, "Let me apologize for my impudence."

"Impudence?" Guy smiled for the first time and Anise laughed.

"Yeah, you sound like Natalia." She told her and then turned to Guy with teary eyes, "I'm s so sorry, my count Gilardia. Please forgive me. Oh please!"

"Hey hey!" Guy backed away, "I said it's okay."

Tear shook her head, "Let me apologize as well. Please." She bowed her head down like Natalia.

"Well, not to sound cruel here." Jade interrupted, "But we should be heading for Tataroo Valley. Is that okay with you?" he asked Guy and Anise stared at him wide eyes.

"You actually asked for Guy's opinion on the subject? Wow, you're so nice."

"Yeah" Anya continued, "I've never seen such compassion." Jade colored a little at their mocking truth. He wasn't nice; he was Jade Curtiss the Necromancer. How on Auldrant had they thought of him as _nice_? It sort of made him want to gag.

"It's good to show kindness once in a while." He told them in a careless tone and then smirked, "It makes up for all the torturous sessions I might end up giving to Guy later." It wiped off the smiles on all their faces as they couldn't help wondering just what the Colonel could do. He was scary alright.

Guy gave a shaky laugh as he stood up, "Remind me to stay ten miles away from you." He told the Colonel who shrugged and went off to Noelle to get her started for the journey.

The pilot looked at him sheepishly, "Actually Colonel, we need to do a little maintenance work for the Albiore. It shouldn't take more than a few hours." Noelle covered a yawn and Jade sighed.

"But then I suppose it would be nighttime by the time we start for Tataroo Valley."

Noelle looked at him and then spoke without thinking a little, "Well, how about you guys start tomorrow morning." Jade looked directly at her and truly it was enough to make her tremble in fear, very slightly though. "N-no I mean, of course. If you want to start now, I can-" she stammered and a smile crossed Jade's lips at that. So he hadn't lost his touch at being able to give people a heart attack.

"It would be best if we started tomorrow morning. The rest of them will be happy to know this. But no excuses then, alright?" She nodded relieved as she stifled a yawn in front of him. "Now I expect you to get a proper night's rest. It wouldn't do if our pilot got us crashed before we reach our destination, now would it." Noelle inclined to a weak smile at his dark humor and when he turned away she immediately 

rushed off to Ginji to tell him to take care of the Albiore while she got a good sleep of more than three hours in the previous three days.

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"Alright!" Anise jumped when Jade announced their delay, "Let's take a tour guys, I'm outta here." With that she ran off outside the Meeting Hall.

"Heh, she's in a mood alright." Luke commented and then turned to those behind him, "what do the rest of us do anyway?" Guy immediately perked up at that and said that he wanted to show Luke the telescope and that there was some sort of Dawn Age machinery through which musical sounds emitted from a fon disk.

Luke rolled his eyes at that but followed his best friend anyway. At least they were talking; it was more than he had hoped for. Especially after listening to Guy's horrifying incident as a child. Tear followed them but Jade said he would like to take a look at the Capacity Core shop and went away alone, so did Natalia and Anya onto their destinations.

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Anya walked around somewhat aimlessly after being done with getting her swords sharpened. Her eye caught a little restaurant in front and she entered to find no one she knew. The tables were filled, it was by all means a very tiny restaurant and very few people dined there. She walked over to a table where someone was sitting with a hood drawn over their face and asked if she could take a seat. The person nodded and she sat. Even under the hood, Anya had a distinct impression that the person in front was examining her and she felt a little self conscious.

"What's your name?" the person asked finally and Anya understood she was female. Okay, a start.

"Anya." She replied. It just wasn't in her custom to be using her full name, "what about you?" she asked but noticed the slight stiffened position the woman in front had gone to. "Something wrong?" she asked and the woman shook her head.

"Freya" she replied softly and Anya cocked her head to a side at the familiarity of the name and the voice. Then it hit her and she sat up straight.

"What? You mean, you're-" she stopped when the woman began undoing her hood slowly as if wanting to surprise her by the sight she would see. The hood fell and for a second, just for a second she caught a glimpse of those features and then her mind had gone from this place to another.

_She was walking with Tristan heading to a confectionary. The little boy was laughing as he held on to his mother's hand but something was wrong about the woman. Like she didn't fit the picture._

"_Mama, where are you taking me?" he asked and she simply smiled._

"_You'll see, it's a surprise." She smiled, not sweetly but one that of murderous intentions. "See ,we're here." The boy looked up in surprise as he looked at the entrance which had a greenish blue glowing aura around. He ran inside._

"_What is this place Mama?" he turned around as another blond woman came flying with a hooded figure who spoke with a man's voice._

"_So you've got the boy?" he asked and Tristan stared at his mother who was nodding._

"_Who are these people?" he asked edging closer to his mother, _

"_That's Miss Gelda." She told the boy pointing at the blonde and that's-"_

"_No need to tell him just now." The man said in a snaky voice and laughed, "Come now. We've been waiting."_

"_Mama? Mama?!" He cried out as the woman slapped him and then put him to sleep with a spell._

Anya sat up looking around for Freya. What had happened when she had taken her hood off? Why had she seen such a bizarre dream? Or was it a vision? At any rate she didn't understand why she had done that to her won son, it was sickening. And Gelda?? Where had she heard that before? She stood up and strode out of the restaurant if one could call it. She looked around and saw that everyone else seemed perfectly normal and nothing was wrong really. The woman Freya….why didn't she remember what she had looked like? She didn't know if she should talk to someone about it. If this was only concerned with her then she really didn't want to give the others any more trouble by discussing her own issues.

Anya looked around for something to do and then simply walked away to find something interesting in the city when after some time she found Natalia standing staring out into the sea with an expression unlike hers. She walked over to the eighteen year old who seemed startled but gave a smile any way.

"It's sad what happened to Guy isn't it?" the princess finally obliged after a few moments of silence.

"I don't think you should be thinking about his condition too much right now." Anya told her, "What with your own business right now, it causes emotional distress you know." Natalia laughed at her protective attitude.

"I can't help it." She replied, "I mean Guy has such a hateful past with the Kimlascan Royal Family and yet he tried to cheer me up earlier. I wish I could do something for him."

Anya eyed her a little strangely, "It looks like you've gotten a liking for Guy finally." She said with a smirk at the princess's sudden blush and indignant speech.

"I-I don't mean anything in that sort of way." She cried out, "Honestly-"

"Relax." Anya grinned, "Look at your reaction. Do you know when girls do that? When they refuse to agree to something that's actually true." Natalia gaped at her for words. Was she really into Guy some other way than just friends? He was good looking and totally charming, enough to sweep her off her feet but-but it just wasn't…

"I am betrothed to Asch." She told the woman haughtily who raised an eyebrow and Natalia remember that she wasn't the princess any more. "But does that mean that Asch and I might never…" She lost her words there. If she cared about Asch so much then where did this sudden soft spot for Guy come.

"You should just try understanding where you and Asch stand." Anya told her and then began walking away and Natalia wondered the same.

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The princess, or should she think the former princess? She walked over to the railings that protected the civilians from the sea and stood there for a while enjoying the sunset; seeing the sun hiding from her under the glistening water throwing a bloodied red shade on the entire sea in her view. At least there weren't a lot of people who knew what the Princess Natalia was supposed to look like or who knew just how many of them would have scorned her till now.

She heard quite footsteps, those of one who adorned an armor and not less than a soldier she presumed from the way the person's boots clanked lightly against the ground. She simply tensed at the though of meeting any more of the White Knights. The person came and stood beside her without a word and she sighed inwardly in relief in seeing him.

"I didn't think I'd see you so soon." She told him softly and he simply stood without a word then turned to her. "But I'm glad you came, Asch." He tch-ed.

"I was only looking for that sneak Spinoza." He told her and then, "You'll have to face uncle, someday."

"Yes I know." She said inaudibly and with slight tears in her eyes as she looked up, "But I can't help it, I'm so scared. What if father rejects me?" She bowed her head and sighed, "I'm so weak-willed."

Asch scowled at her attitude, "Natalia, it's not like you to be scared. You saw how the people of Baticul helped you back there." She nodded.

"I know, Guy told me the same thing." He twitched a little at the mention of Guy's charming behavior.

"Exactly." He managed, "You remember the promise you made? The one we made?"

"Let's work together when we grow up." she said remembering words from seven years ago, "Change it so that no one has to suffer…"

"You didn't make that promise as a part of being the princess. The royal blood isn't in your veins but so what? You still cared all the same and that's why the people repay you with their kindness. That's why they love you." He couldn't believe he would ever hear himself comforting Natalia this way. It reminded him of their times together when they had been ids. It hurt somewhere but he buried it in his chest.

Natalia looked at him hesitantly. What she was about to ask wasn't something to be answered lightly. Was it too bold to be asking this of him?

"And what about you?" she asked softly and he turned his redhead with a frown. "Do you feel the same? Do you still care, about me? Or was it always the Princess Natalia." Asch simply stared at her at this sudden unexpected turn of their conversation.

"Why the hell are you even asking that?" he asked. "It doesn't matter, does it? You have work to do and so do I." He turned away, his heart pounding in his ears. Did he still care about her?? If only she knew…

"Asch! Please." her plea almost rang out in the silent area and it wasn't like her to go so weak in his presence or anyone else's. "I-I've been trying to understand where we stand since sometime."

Asch looked anywhere but her trying to think how to answer her. If he told her-if he did, then it would eventually end up hurting her. There was no hope for them. No, it had been over seven years back when his replica had come into the picture.

"What about Replica?" he asked. Well, he needed to know her feelings for that damned dreck.

"Asch!" she cried out with a frown, "Don't say it like he's not human."

"Well, he's not." He replied, a little angered at her defending.

"No. He has feelings and memories and everything we do." He hated the way she said it all. As if they were the right thing. Well she was right…

"He's my cousin too. He's like you, I couldn't possibly-" she stopped at the look on Asch's face and realized where she had crossed the line. Too late though. "T-that's not what I-Asch!" She grabbed his wrist so he wouldn't walk away but he whirled around anger clouding his features.

"That replica replaced me." He was shaking in anger now, "So what sort of business do I have here? Go do whatever you have to with him."

"You don't get it." She shouted, now with tears streaming down her face as she tried wiping them away. She never cried, never. Why did Asch have to make her feel this way?

"I do get it, alright?" he said trying not to notice her tears. They killed him. "Just go find the dreck and-"

"Give me a chance to explain." She told him, "I just meant that he's special to me too." His head whipped towards her, "It's just not the way you are. He's more of a brother to me. It was never like that with you. Even when you were gone, I always wished the 'old' Luke would be back. You want to know why?" His silence gestured for her to go on. "Because I care. It's different form the way I do about Luke but it's different with you. And it's always been that way." She felt as if she had been ranting on uselessly and she wiped her tears when Asch continued looking away from her.

"You do know you should be getting over me then." He told her bluntly and she looked up, "I'm not the duke's son anymore and I'm never going back there again. I don't want to end up hurting you again." He finally let a part of his show and Natalia felt somehow glad that he still cared so much.

"But I don't want you to go." She told him, "Things have been a little rough. Could you stay a little while?" He looked at her and he knew he could never say no to that. Damn it, why did she do this to him? He occupied where she had earlier stood and she smiled. As long as Asch was there, there was always someone to care. Her companions tried their best. Guy had and at that thought she suddenly felt confused again. Why did it matter so much how he had doe that? Tear, Luke, Anise and Anya had all tried too but why did Guy's attitude feel different?

Asch looked at her suddenly absent minded state and he knew he would never really have her even if they both cared the way Natalia had confessed. "Is something the matter?" She turned to him with a start and shook her head. Just being alone with her in the breezy silence reminded him of their times from earlier. All sorts of memories rushed to him and he didn't want them. He wasn't Luke Fon Fabre anymore. He wasn't the one supposed to be marrying the Princess Natalia, it was his replica but…They had both been stated as impostors by the Kimlascans.

Natalia thought about her position. She wasn't the princess anymore; neither was Luke the duke's son or Asch for that matter. They were all free from some sort of Royal binding that had always kept them in a limit. She turned to Asch.

"Asch." E turned his head slightly towards her to show that he had heard, "Let's run away somewhere together after this."

"W-what are you talking about?" he asked checking if she was joking.

"After we're done with this work, take me to Daath with you." she told him remembering seven years back when he had proposed the same thing to her one day. Only then she had been horrified by the idea. They had been Royalty then.

"Stop being so stupid." He hissed and then suddenly pulled her to him and closed the gap between them as their lips met. It took Natalia by considerable surprise as heated feelings rushed within her and she melted in his grasp as she too held on to him. He had all of her now. She felt almost as if she had surrendered to something beautiful. It was amazing. She would run away to Daath now, definitely.

He pulled back and steadied her then turned away to her surprise, "I'm going, alright?" he told her softly.

"But Asch-"

"Don't even think about going to Daath again." He turned to her, "That was a stupid suggestion I made as a kid. Hell, I never thought you'd actually remember that."

"How could I not?" she asked, "But I'm serious Asch-"

"I said no. And don't think of it again. You have to go back to the Royal Family no matter what and find someone else for Hell's sake. I told you we're not meant to be anymore." It hurt to walk away like this right after he had kissed her so willingly, so heatedly. It was annoying how he a god-General could be letting his heart get to him.

Natalia looked at his retreating form without any words. So all of that just happened had meant nothing? Her heart felt weak now, it was hurting so much. It never had this way before. She sat down at the edge of a porch on a house in front and continued looking at Asch's retreating form, his straight posture with his hand on his sword, his blood red hair blending in with the light cast by the sun. A few seconds later the last rays of the sun were gone and so was Asch.

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	22. The innocent one

**Thank you guys for the well wishing and inspiration. You guys are amazing and your wishes made my day.Hope you enjoy this chapter, originally i planned a lot of things in this one but i'm a very busy girl so..enjoy. I know i suddenly started adding names to the chapter.**

**Chapter twenty two**

_I need to see him for myself, the boy i think i know. Could it be...?Ion_

"Okay, so now we head back to Sheridan to give the measurements back to our old friends, huh?" Luke commented as soon as they got out of the Sephiroth with all the girls still cooing over Mieu, who had learnt a new flying ability.

"Yes." Jade answered as he checked out the reading on the measuring device again, "It seems rather high I'd say. Our 'old friends' as you put it will probably need quite sometime to create an object to counter the effects of the core's vibration." At this Natalia spoke up for the first time since the previous day apart form the 'yes' and 'no'.

"So in the mean time we should probably go somewhere much farther than Kimlasca so that it doesn't take up our time later." She said and Guy gave her a comforting smile.

"Hey, I understand why you'd want to be away for a while. But apart from that you're probably right." Natalia nodded with a strained smile and any one could guess that something must've happened the previous day and Anya could only think that it concerned Asch.

"In that case." Anya spoke up, "How about we go pay a visit to Midgard?" Everyone turned to her at this and she blinked. "What?"

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Guy cried out suddenly, "Your friends told me it was an amazing place."

"Dawn age machinery, huh?" Luke recalled and Tear sighed exasperatedly making Guy scowl.

"You guys don't have to react like that." He said indignantly making everyone let out a chuckle.

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"Van." Freya's voice interrupted Van and Legretta's discussions on their next course of actions.

"The commandant and I are having an important discussion." Legretta informed her coldly, "Please, could you wait?" Freya returned the icy look.

"No. I need to speak with him right away." She told the blonde and occupied Legretta's neighboring chair. "Van, I'll get to the point." She told him and Van dismissed Legretta then turned to his friend.

"I think there's still a chance that we could get Guy on our side." She told him and he stroked his beard.

"I have explained the idea of replicating Hod and even then he refused to join our side." He filled her in on the conversation in Belkend.

"But Van." She didn't look ready to let go, "We can always explain things differently."

"You mean, bring up things from the past?" Van asked and she nodded, "About Mary, his family. I suppose that could work." He wondered how they were to do such a thing without drawing attention from the rest of Luke's group. For this sort of manipulation they needed to speak to Guy alone.

"They'll be heading for Midgard tomorrow. Freya told him, "But you knew that obviously." She commented with a roll of her eyes as Van gave a small laugh.

"If the two of us could isolate him from the rest and have a little chat like the old days." Van muttered as he thought of it and Freya continued.

"Then there's a chance Guy could be convinced to come to our side." She stood up, "I think we'll have to be on or way as fast as we can. They have an airship, we don't."

"They'll be spending time in the Sephiroth." Van reminded her as he too stood up, "We can make it if we don't face interruptions." Freya laughed.

"Could you also mean that they could be delayed if they were interrupted?" She asked and Van nodded.

"One person they cannot leave behind is the Fon Master." He explained and Freya grinned.

"If we were to kidnap him again…I get it. It's no wonder you're our commandant. You know the enemy's weaknesses."He laughed and knew he had done the right thing in appointing her as a God-General.

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"If you want to go to Midgard, the easiest way on foot would be through the Meggiora Highlands and then-" Aston was interrupted as Luke broke in before the old man could continue.

"But we're not going on foot." He told the old folks, "We need directions for the Albiore."

"Ah that's right." Iemon smiled proudly, "The fine work of the Sheridan craftsmen."

"Excuse me?" Henken glared at the bushy-eyebrow pointedly and the young group sighed.

"There they go at it again." Natalia commented and smiled for a change.

"Let's be on our way kids." Jade's voice interrupted the old arguing people, "There's a map marking the easy passages to place here." He told the group picking up a large worn map from a work-table.

"That's great." Guy commented as he peered from behind Jade, "All the cities are actually marked here."

"Nice." Luke grinned as he took the lead and then turned back, "Okay you guys." He directed at the old group, "Can you build whatever it is by the time we get back?"

"Approximately a week I'd say." Jade put in helpfully, "Since we've got the Albiore." Anise grinned at this. It was obvious no one was eager to go through the Meggiora Highlands in the ten o'clock summer heat again.

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"Okay, direct to Midgard?" Noelle asked the group as they boarded the Albiore and Luke nodded.

"We have a problem though." Jade pointed out before Noelle could start the aircraft and Luke turned back.

"What is it?" he asked as he looked at Jade.

"Ion isn't here." Tear informed them.

"Right." Luke remembered, "How could we forget to bring him along? Anise, how could you?" He directed at the young girl who scowled up at him and Natalia glared at the red head.

"Don't blame Anise. She had a lot on her head just like the rest of us." The princess explained, "Besides, why don't you go and bring him over?"

"Alright." He grumblingly ran out of the Albiore and in the direction of the city. Guy looked at his back skeptically and followed.

"He can't handle all those monsters himself." The blond hurried away.

"I still don't believe we forgot about him." Natalia commented with a hand on her chin. Anya shrugged

"Well, the seal on Tataroo Valley was unlocked." She pointed out.

"Yes, it was a good thing Ion had previously unlocked the seal when Van took him there." Jade explained and Anise nodded her head vigorously.

"Yup. Now Ion got some rest from that entire journey and other things to do in Daath, we can make the best of everything." She cheered but Tear still looked worried.

"I wonder if the Fon Master's alright." She said slowly and Natalia's head whipped in her direction.

"What do you mean?" the princess asked.

"Leaving him unguarded here alone." Tear thought out loud, "I wonder if it was such a great idea after all."

"Guys!" came a shout form outside as Luke and Guy found themselves in the Albiore to catch their breath.

"It's Ion." Luke announced and panted.

"Yeah." Anise stood up, "What about him? I don't see him anywhere."

"That's the problem." Guy told them, "He's gone. We looked all over the town."

"That can't be." Natalia looked worried.

"The guy at the Inn said something though." Guy told them slowly and they all looked at him for the information.

"A young boy with green hair and a mask took away Ion with him. Any guess who that could be?" The blond asked them in a sarcastic tone and Anise groaned.

"The God-Generals again? Didn't we shoo off Arietta yesterday?" Luke nodded at Anya's comments and then turned to the others.

"What do we do now? We can't make it to Midgard without Ion and we have no idea where he is." The red head kicked the wall of the aircraft, "What a pain man."

"They'll most likely have taken him to Daath." Jade reasoned, "That's the best lead we have at the moment."

"Why there?" Anise asked, "I mean they need him to open Daathic seals right?"

"Your Necromancer friend is right. Come to Daath if you want Ion."

"He's definitely in Daath." Anya stiffened at the sudden headache and the voice but that itself confirmed Ion's whereabouts and they all turned to her, "It's where the God-Generals reside." She was confused. Whose voice was it that gave her that piece of information just now? Was she hearing imaginary voices or what?

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"Done" Freya grinned at Van as she stood up, "I've let Anya know that Ion's being kept in Daath. They'll be heading this way now."

"We will have to find a way to get Guy away from the rest of them." Van reminded her and they sat down once again to think.

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Daath was engulfed in a heavy storm and the streets were very much empty with hardly any of the peasants walking by which was unusual for such a busy state as Daath. Even the pilgrims had taken refuge in the Cathedral to wait for the evening storm to be over but Fon Master Ion had once again sneaked out without informing anybody. He knew if someone were to know, that piece of information would reach Mohs's ears and interruptions would come in the blink of an eye. The rain poured down hard on the frail looking Fon Master but he was intent on making it to the bay. He was sure he had seen Mohs taking the young boy in that direction.

Thunder rolled almost too close and Ion shivered as he viewed the silhouette of a flying monster. Maybe he should've brought someone with him just in case so he wouldn't get slain now.

"Shouldn't you be back at the Cathedral? How the hell did you break out?" came a familiarly strong voice as Ion turned to see a mop of green hair swept down by the rain as the masked boy approached him. He was still having trouble figuring out the truth about Sync's identity but he was more than just sure he had the powers of a Fon Master; how else could he have marked Guy with a curse slot??

"I didn't break out." He replied, "There's something I need to investigate." Ion told him in a manner that wasn't really stern but this boy was sure going to stand his ground.

"So where's your little Anise?" Sync asked tauntingly, "Didn't come to get you now, did she? I'd bet she hates working as your guardian with that measly pay."

Ion merely smiled, "I happen to know Anise better than you. She'll come. Remember, she's my friend. Besides, if you're here then I guess you could take her place for a while." Sync stared at the Fon Master disbelievingly.

"Do what? Protect you?!" He sounded unsure for the first time and Ion turned to face the other side.

"It's alright; I'll go on my own. But if something happens and I'm not back by tomorrow then do inform Mohs and Van about me." With that he strode forward knowing full well Sync wouldn't want to face all the nonsense Mohs would lecture him if Ion was harmed; after all someone had to read the Score. The Score…Sync would sure as hell not want to listen to that kind of lecture. And if Van found out that his God-general couldn't hold back someone like Ion, then…

"Fine." Sync shouted into the night as he took the lead with his extraordinary speed. Who would've known the Fon Master could be so serious when he wanted to do something for himself??

"I knew I could count on you." Ion told him in that naïve voice as if they had been friends since birth and Sync whirled around.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm only doing this so I can keep a good name out of any suspicion in the Order. Besides, Van needs you. I've been ordered not to let any harm to you and that's all I'm doing" He explained and then batted a monster out of his way to blow off some steam. He had never imagined doing something as low as this. Playing the knight for the replica who was the same as him. NO!! Ion was a better replica than himself, that's why he had been given the better privileges; like he had ever wanted to be born. Who else on this Score-bounded planet could have a worse reason to be born??

"Can I ask you something?" Ion's voice interrupted his thoughts and Sync had half a mind to strangle the boy's annoying vocal cords. "Why are you in league with Van?" Oh, so now he was trying to make conversation.

"Why aren't you?" Sync shot back, "Knowing what you are, you should. But instead you go trying to protect the Score."

"I'm not protecting the Score." Ion replied, "The Score went off-track long ago with Luke's birth. Our birth." At this Sync frowned behind his mask. Our??

"Who are you talking about?" he asked hoping Ion hadn't caught on to his identity.

"A number of people. People like me" Ion merely replied, "Now that I think of it, I want you to see something. Or rather, someone."

Sync scowled but didn't have a choice as he had already come this far. The Fon Master had certainly piqued some sort of interest in him at the mention of more replicas. 'People like me'??

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"Gyaah, that puts in more work and time for us." Anise whined in frustration as the Albiore was wildly swinging around in the storm.

"It's just one day Anise." Luke grumbled and the little girl glared at him while throwing her dice on to the floor again.

"Still, the faster we get things done the better." Guy reasoned and Anya joined Anise on the floor where she was rolling her multi colored dice. "Hey, no! Damn it!" the blond sighed as Anise triumphantly smiled.

"That's ten gald for me." She said sweetly, "Come now, that's the way of my count Gaillardia."

Anya stared at her with wide eyes, "You bet on just ten gald?" she asked disbelievingly, "That's rather cheap knowing your taste. Anise shrugged.

"That was Guy's condition. If he lost he would give ten gald and I said if he won then he'd treat me a chocovanilla ice cream combo with rainbow sprinkles." Anise told them and didn't notice the smirk on Guy's and Luke's face. Natalia looked confused while Tear gave an amused sigh.

"What's so funny?" she asked the two boys and Jade stepped in with an evil smile.

"It will take too long for someone with the brain the size of a cocoon to understand." The colonel commented with a smirk at Guy's pleading expression, "Why, I'm sure the kind of treat Anise asked for is definitely not worth a measly ten gald, am I right Guy?" he asked innocently while Anya hid a smile and Anise's head whipped up.

"No fair!" she screamed and Luke burst out laughing. Anise stood up and for a second glared at Guy then lunged at him. "I love you Guy. Marry me, marry me." She said evilly with her arms around Guy who was cowering badly.

"Get off!" he screamed and Tear gently pulled off the young teen. "Fine, fine. I'll treat you some other day." Anise jumped high and settled down happily.

"Must be nice for you." Guy directed at Anya as they settled down "Going home again."

"I'll just be there for a while." She told him, "As long it takes to inform the King of whatever actions we're about to take."

"Still, that means we get to meet Tristan right?" He asked and she nodded with a smile. He looked around a little and then leaned closer, "I wonder how Tear would react, don't you?" Anya thought about it and then laughed lightly.

"You mean how she goes gushing on about kids and how cute they are?" She smiled, "What can I say? We women love children."

"Really?" Anise piped up from beside, "So how many do you plan to have?" She snickered as Anya was caught off-guard by this and the others turned to look at her for the answer.

"As many it takes to fill the entire post of the Oracle Knights in the Order of Lorelei." The older woman replied with a smirk making Anise choke on the water bottle she had just opened.

"Err- that's a lot, isn't it?" Luke asked and Anya nodded with a wide smile and Jade spoke up from the shadows behind the red head.

"And then she'll have them trained up to become the God-Generals." He commented with a smirk at Luke's expression.

"Don't sneak up on us like that Jade." He hissed and turned back to Guy beside him, "You think those two are serious?"

"Yeah. That's a good idea" Anya answered sarcastically, "Anise and Tear can be their mentors." Natalia beamed while Tear looked unable to answer.

"You aren't serious are you?" Luke asked and Guy shrugged from beside.

"Who knows." the blonde told his friend and Anise pouted.

"Would I get a good pay?" the raven haired girl asked Anya who replied with an "of course."

"Like ten gald?" Jade commented slyly with his eyes on Anise's dice.

"Oh my Anya." Natalia beamed again, "You turn out to be so full of surprises every time." Anise shook her head.

"You're crazy." She muttered to both Natalia and Anya.

"No." Anya replied with a laugh, "I'm just a young woman with high ambitions.

"Freeing Ion from the God-generals won't be easy." Jade told them with a serious look, "That's why I suggest you all get some sleep right away." Luke yawned on cue.

"So how long is it gonna take to reach Daath?" he asked and Jade took a look at the pocket watch.

"We have enough time, around a few hours." He answered Luke, "We'll land in Daath Bay first and enter Daath on foot so that the God-generals aren't tipped off about our surprise visit." Anya looked away at that. Come to Daath if you want Ion…one of the God-generals? Whose voice did she keep hearing? She hoped with everything she wasn't going crazy but as unnatural it seemed she knew this was important. Discovering this connection was essential, it was the key to something. Maybe the life she had left behind long ago, a life she didn't remember. And until she had answers to all the questions regarding her visions and the voices in her head, there was no resting even if this journey to save Auldrant was over.

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Sync entered Daath bay through the shadows with Ion trailing far too behind him. That boy really was weak. Whoever had chosen him to be the Fon Master above everyone else? Hell, even he himself was in a lot better shape than Ion.

"Where do we go from here?" Sync asked impatiently when Ion suddenly collapsed on his knees and Sync gritted his teeth. He didn't have time for this; it wasn't as if having to protect the boy wasn't bad enough.

"I'm alright." Ion told Sync wheezy when he tried to help out of courtesy, not that he was well known for it.

"Fine." The god-general snapped and drew his hand back while Ion stood up and looked around.

"I'm not so sure where the place maybe-"

"What?!" Sync's shout drew attention from the area and he cursed silently.

"All I'm saying is." Ion continued as if nothing had happened, "We have to find out a place where Mohs might have taken someone to keep from everyone's view." Sync looked at the replica Ion at this. Mohs keeping someone hidden? He turned his eyes back onto the street and began walking and from what he could hear, Ion following him without any fuss. A minute later they came upon a less crowded area where hardly any people waited except one or two pilgrims who were busy counting rosary beads in their hands with their eyes closed. A little farther they saw a small hut with an oracle knight stationed in front.

"Why don't you try barging in that house over there?" Sync asked Ion from a little distance. The Fon Master looked over to where Sync was indicating and walked off leaving an astonished Sync behind. Did he really think he would be allowed to get inside without a fight? Even if he was the Fon Master, Mohs surely couldn't have him interfering with whatever had in mind. But something made Sync want to get to the bottom of this. Ion never acted so rash wanting to interfere in Mohs's business. It just sparked an interest in the entire ordeal. He crept towards the guard slowly to hear what Ion and remain in the shadows.

"I'm sorry Fon Master." The guard was saying blocking Ion's path, "But I've been ordered not to let anybody in except the Grand Maestro."

"This matter will not reach Mohs's ears if you let me in without so much trouble." Ion told him in his gentle voice and Sync rolled his eyes. Did that boy really think he could make a guard listen with that attitude? He strutted off from his hidden position in the dark.

"Didn't you hear? The Fon Master wants entrance." He told the guard, "Get out of our way or else." He looked at the guard dangerously and even through the mask one could feel the death glare radiating but the guard stood his ground.

"I'm sorry Sir." He told them, "Grand Maestro Mohs would have my head if I let any one in here." Sync grabbed him by the collar lightly and despite being so small he could almost lift the guard up.

"Listen here." He growled, "Would you rather have me finish you off here?" The guard readied his weapon but Sync saw it coming and grabbed the guard's sword, "Not a chance." He prepared to crack off the guard's skull but Ion touched his shoulder lightly and he shook it off. No one dared touch him, not even nicely.

"Please Sync, there's no need for such a rash incident." The Fon Master had his eyes fixed on the guard, "If we make a fuss here-"

"I'm not stupid." Sync hissed, "I know." With that he pulled the guard away from the door and then looked around to see if anyone was looking. The guard was about to plunge the sword when Sync dodged it with a back flip and then hit the guard's armored stomach with a hard punch. It hurt a little but not so much to stop him from doing it a second time. The guard passed out without so much fuss and Ion smiled at him. He didn't return it. He still had no idea why he was doing this.

They entered the shabby looking hut to be greeted by a small one room house with only a bed and a table as the furniture. The fireplace crackled to cast a yellow light around the empty hut and a basket with a half eaten apple as the only sign of life in there.

"I wonder where he is." Ion muttered and Sync tapped the wall to check for a hidden door.

"Who are you talking about?" he asked the Fon Master who merely looked at him and then turned back to face the bed.

"Please come out. I won't hurt you." He said nicely as if talking to a child and Sync wondered if he had finally gone crazy reading the Score. A sudden flurry of movement broke into his thoughts and he looked at the bed intently to see the bed sheets flying off and a small figure crawling out from beneath the bed.

"What the-" The god-general was in a loss of words as the boy decided to stand up and face them with hair the same green as his and the same emerald hue in his eyes as his own.

"Mohs?" the boy asked in Ion's voice as he took in Ion, "N-no! You- you look like me?" his voice dropped to a whisper. Ion nodded and approached cautiously with a smile.

"Do you have a name?" he asked the boy who nodded his head.

"Mohs calls me the Replica." He said in a naïve voice, "Do you have a name?" he looked up at his mirror image who nodded and then the boy turned to face Sync who stepped back a little. It was still too unbelievable to be seeing another replica of the Fon master. "Mister, why do you have that?" he indicated to Sync's mask which he touched lightly to fix.

"It's to hide my face." He replied bluntly and when the boy came closer he stepped away, "What?" he shouted and the boy ran away to Ion and hid behind him with his chin length green hair falling into his green eyes.

"Sync, don't be this way." Ion chided him and smiled at the replica, "He's not that sociable with outsiders. My name's Ion, that's Sync" He explained to the replica who nodded but kept an eye on Sync. This boy sure seemed scary.

"But mister?" he didn't give up "Is it because you don't look good? Are you afraid the girls won't marry you?" he asked and Sync almost choked.

"I'm a hell lot better looking than you, you-you-" he shut up and turned away. Children were hard to deal with and this replica was no different. He still had trouble looking at both Ion and the replica at the same time. They were three replicas of the same person standing there in one room!

"Please. Let's not fight." Ion said as if in a kindergarten. "How about we settle down first?" he asked the boy who nodded and sat on the bed where Ion joined him. Sync remained standing; he had no intention of befriending those two.

"To start with." Ion began, "Do you know who you are?" he asked the replica who blinked.

"I'm a replica." He answered, "To read the Score for Mohs."

"You were living in Daath for a while, is that so?" he asked not giving any hint that he thought this boy was a replica.

"Yes, a few weeks after I was made. Two days back Mohs brought me here." The boy told them in whatever words he knew. Ion sighed; someone would have to teach him advanced vocabulary.

"So where did Mohs keep you?" Sync suddenly asked and the boy looked a little scared. He looked at Ion for help and Sync gritted his teeth. "Get over it, I'm not gonna bite off your head!" Ion smiled soothingly and the boy replied.

"In Daath. In the cathedral." He thought about it, "A room where he said nobody visited. It was a part of his own room that was hidden behind a secret door. Wasn't that awesome?" he looked up like a child who was going treasure hunting.

Sync humph-ed and looked away. So Mohs had kept a replica for a few weeks from now by the sound of it. But why would he do that when Ion was available? Ion, the best of the replicas; the one who had been chosen to have an actual future unlike the other ones like him or the ones that had been thrown at the mouth of Mt. Zaleho volcano.

Ion spoke up interrupting his thoughts, "We need a name for you." He looked over at Sync, "What do you think Sync?" The god-general was a little surprised but didn't show it and simply brushed it off with a "whatever."

The boy looked from one to another and waited while Ion thought over for a minute and Sync was leaning against the table fixing his mask to make sure they didn't see his face although he was sure Ion was getting onto something.

"Florian." Ion suddenly exclaimed, "We should call him Florian. Sync what do you say?"the Fon Master looked around to see the God-general smirking under the mask and was sure there was something like a disgusted expression behind it.

"Florian?" Sync asked as though Ion was crazy, "'The innocent one' in Ancient Ispanian?" Ion nodded and the replica boy beamed.

"Name, name." he stood up and hurried over to Sync who wondered what the boy was up to. He took Sync's hand and pulled him towards the door, "Let's go outside and play. Ion come." He looked back while Sync tried to dislodge his wrist and succeeded when he was a little rough. Well, more than needed. The boy rushed over to Ion complaining.

"Sync's not a bad boy." The Fon Master explained with a smile and Sync humph-ed.

"I'm going back and you're coming with me." He pointed towards Ion and started walking away. Suddenly at the door he felt small hands holding his arm from behind and looked back to see Florian's large eyes.

"Don't go and don't take Ion with you. I don't have anyone to play with." He bowed his head sadly and Sync tried shaking off his hand but Florian's grip was surprisingly strong. He shook his head. "I'm not letting you go." He pulled the God-general inside who was amused more than anything else and didn't resist.

"Florian." Ion started once the three settled down like before with Sync standing and the other two sitting. "What did Mohs want you to do?" he asked it kindly but Sync could detect the seriousness. Florian thought about it and shivered slightly.

"Score." He whispered and Sync's head snapped towards the boy, "He wants me to read the Score."

"So?" Sync asked, "What's the problem? You've been created for a job, you've got a life. Be happy." He realized he was a little harsh with his speech but the boy didn't realize that he had a good life ahead of him unlike himself. At least Florian was kept alive even if it was for the Score, not that he wanted to be a Fon Master or anything of the sort.

"But you don't want to, do you?" Ion talked carefully giving no hint that Sync had interrupted at all and Florian nodded sadly.

"I-it hurts." His voice broke, "E-every time I read a little, I become so tired. I feel like-like-" he looked around for words when Ion completed.

"Like your life's draining. I know." He said and the room was silent for a while. Sync looked at the two uncomfortably. Was it really that bad for the both of them? Those two seemed to share some sort of bond, a bond formed out of similar reasons; for the two people who were so alike and met the same fate. Ion suddenly looked up at Sync.

"Do you know something?" he asked Sync who wanted to roll his eyes but was too exhausted already with all the revelations. How can I know if you don't tell me?

However Ion continued, "There were replicas of the Fon Master. More replicas." Sync's eras pricked up at that. What was he getting to?

"They were all tested to find out whose abilities were close to those of the original Fon Master. One who would be chosen to read the Score. That was the reason they were created." He paused and then continued with a drilling look at Sync's direction, at least as drilling it could get.

"I was one of them." Sync didn't even look surprised and Ion was sure that Sync had known all along about him. He looked at Florian, "Yes, I'm one of your kinds."

"What happened to the others?" Florian asked and Sync replied surprisingly.

"They were left to die at the volcano. At Mt. Zaleho." He came forward and sat on the edge of the bed, "They were thrown into the volcano, you know why?" the boy shook his head and Sync continued, "Because they were trash. Yes, worthless replicas who couldn't even read the Score. That's why they were left to be killed." He laughed oddly; a bitter laugh and Florian looked a little scared.

"Ad those who lived, or were taken in out of pity." He looked directly into Florian's eyes, "Those replicas have nothing in this world to live for. They can't read the Score and so cannot replace the Fon Master who died. But they're just there. They just live." Florian looked in tears by now and Ion walked over to him and embraced like a brother.

"Why?" Florian cried out surprising the both of them, "If we're only wanted to read the Score and nothing else, why were we created?" Sync laughed again this time feeling somewhat victorious. He had shown somebody the ruthlessness of the Score, the flaws of that damned thing. Ion turned to Sync.

"You see Sync." He talked so suddenly that the God-general was almost surprised once again, "Even though some of us have been chosen to take the Fon Master's place, it's not living life. Not really living. Do you understand what I mean?" Sync looked away and realized it all. Ion maybe the Fon master. No one knew he was a replica but even then, he wasn't content. There was a part of him that wanted to see the world without being bound to the Score, without working to accomplish nothing. He too wanted a life and his was no better than Sync's himself. But that wasn't true, on was probably better off-

"Sync." He looked up to see Ion's hand on his shoulder, "I think I know something but I promise I won't hint about it to anybody. Not even Florian, not until you yourself feel it should be known." Sync looked down wondering what this feeling was. It was almost as if someone in this damned world cared. Cared enough to be friends?? No, he could never be a friend to someone. It was impossible. But he knew Ion meant revealing himself a as replica of the original Ion too.

"So" he looked up, "If you both don't feel up to reading the Score, if it gets to you so much then why don't you just leave this place?" Ion smiled.

"I tried." He replied, "But Anise or Mohs or someone would always find me and besides, I didn't want anybody suspecting me. I don't know where I would go." He sighed heavily and looked out the window to see that the storm was somewhat calming down. Florian still didn't look satisfied.

"The next time Mohs comes." He looked angry, "I don't want to be here. I want to be outside." He looked out the window sadly, "I want to play."

"Play?" Sync stared incredulously, "What on Auldrant would you want to play?"

"Sync, he's still got the mentality of a child you know." Ion told the God-general who shook his head.

"Sync!" Florian suddenly exclaimed, "I want to play hide-and-seek."

"Now?" Sync looked around to escape somehow and Ion laughed, "What's so funny?" he snapped at the Fon master.

"It's good to see this side of you. You can be nice when you want to be." Sync spluttered at this.

"Stop saying stupid things. I'm only doing this because-" he looked at Florian, "Because I feel like-don't ask." He didn't want to explain, he couldn't. It was still too embarrassing.

"It's alright to want friends once in a while." Ion smiled, "When Anise isn't here, I get lonely too."

"Who's Anise?" Florian asked and Ion explained that she was a friend.

"Florian." Ion stood up, "I think I should get going now. It's been long; people are bound to notice my disappearance.

"I want to call him Evane." Sync suddenly let out feeling both their eyes on him.

"Another name?" Florian looked at them happily.

"'the infant warrior'?" Ion asked Sync who nodded, "But he doesn't seem like a fighter to me."

"I bet he could handle a weapon if we gave him a chance to." Sync replied, "And you're the one who keeps saying he's so childish." Ion looked over at Florian.

"He wants to fight for his freedom, he wants to be free." Ion breathed out, "If given the chance he would fight for it. Yes, maybe you're right. But Florian-"

"Is a disgusting name." Sync finished, "It's so naïve." Ion smiled.

"I will call him Florian and you can call him Evane. They both are nice names." He concluded and ignored Sync's annoyed looks.

"I will come outside with you." Florian smiled and accompanied both of them.

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"Van!" Freya stood up in frustration, "I think it's been too long that Sync has been gone."

"I know." He replied, "Something must have happened on the way t retrieve the Fon Master."

"What I don't get is how he got out of the cathedral." Freya was annoyed now, "If this keeps up do you think we have a chance to get to talk to Guy?"

"Maybe we should head out towards the port just in case." Van said slowly as he grabbed his cloak and shrouded it around himself to keep himself as hidden as possible even though it was a dark night.

"We have to catch up to Luke and his friends before they get away with Ion." Freya was saying as she too covered herself up and tied the bandanna around her eyes again and the two set off as fast as they could.

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"Aargh! It's no better here." Anise complained and Jade pulled lightly at her pony tail making her turned her head around fast.

"Luke, don't do that." The colonel accused him in a fake tone.

"Anyone would know it was you, colonel." The Fon Master guardian scolded and Jade tried giving an innocent look.

"Now now. I'm an old man who's not into games like that anymore. Nice pigtails Anise." He complimented when Anise was about to say something but then she simply shook her head muttering something like "hopeless."

"Actually Anise, the storm's not half as bad as it was a while ago." Anya commented with a slight shiver, "Can we get in somewhere already?" The others particularly Natalia nodded vigorously. Even after months of travelling around, this was tough work for the princess.

"It sure was scary up there." Luke said as he looked up at the thundery clouds. It had almost felt like death had approached before time.

"We have to formulate a plan to break into the cathedral." Tear told them, "We don't have time to be resting." She glared at Luke who had run towards the inn. He sighed and turned back.

"It won't be long Tear." The red head tried to reason, "Look we're soaked."

"He's right in a way." Jade told her, "We can't have anyone catching pneumonia now, can we." Tear still looked doubtful.

"I know but." She sighed and headed towards the inn. Everyone continued staring at her when she turned back with her hands on her hips, "What are you all waiting for? Don't just stand there." She turned and walked away but not before getting Luke and Guy's eyes glued to her from behind.

"Rain does a great lot of good to women, is what I'm thinking." Guy muttered so only the red head could hear but Jade came from behind.

"Oh, you can't be talking about the wet clothes on the rather well-endowed women here. Yes boys?" he looked innocently as the two glared at him and Natalia came up from behind with an angry expression.

"Luke!" she called out, "I can't believe you. And Guy?" she turned to the blonde who withdrew, "I didn't know you were that kind of guy." Anise chortled from behind the princess and Anya shook her head amusedly.

"H-hey!" Guy looked uncomfortable, "It's not what I meant." He said weakly as he rubbed the back of his neck but Luke gave Natalia a look.

"Yeah well, if you feel so bad about it, no one asked you to wear such tiny dresses." He told her and she flared up.

"I will not tolerate this." She almost screamed and Anya pulled her away before she could get into Luke's face.

"Come with me." A sudden whisper, that of a woman reached Guy's ears from nearby. In fact so close eh could almost feel the rustle of the cloak she wore when he turned back suddenly. Her head nodded in his direction and then she glided away towards somewhere away from the group. Guy looked at them and realized they were too busy. He stalked off towards the woman in the dark wondering why he wanted to know what she was up to.

"Let me go!" Natalia looked back at Anya who was having a hard time keeping from laughing.

"Maybe later." The older woman replied, "Let's leave these boys to their dirty thoughts." She gave a pointed look at Jade who merely shrugged with a grin and she sighed. "This was what men were born to do." She commented and steered off the princess who was still glaring at Luke until they entered the inn with Anise trailing behind.

"Okay Jade, why are we standing-Jade?" the red head had noticed the sudden serious look on the colonel's face.

"Where could he have gone to?" he muttered as he looked at the pace where Guy had vanished and Luke asked once again what was wrong.

"Guy?!" the red head noticed his absence, "Jade did you see- hey!" he tugged at the colonels' sleeve and pointed towards a hut when Jade looked at him with annoyed expression.

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Where did she go? Guy looked around the edge of the port where he could only make out the silhouette of trees but thankfully no monsters.

"Guy." Came a familiar voice and the blonde had his sword unsheathed already as he whirled around to face his old friend.

"Van." He said under his breath, "What do you want now?"

"Don't be so mean." Came a feminine voice, "It's the three of us again. This is not how I expected our reunion to go, you know." Guy stared at her. There was something oddly familiar about her although he couldn't see the eyes because they were covered but he couldn't place it. Something about the voice…

"God-general Freya the Loveless." She introduced with a smile and Guy stared at her. It couldn't be…

"You mean-?" he looked at Van who nodded and he turned towards her again, "Y-you've been alive all this time?" She nodded. "But then-then why didn't you write or contact or something. Freya, is it really you?" he looked at her and she smiled and there was something familiar again about that smile. Not the fact that she was his friend but something else.

"Guy?" she tilted her head, "It's been a while." She said and Van looked at the two.

"I-" Guy looked uncomfortable and then suddenly hugged Freya surprising all three of them and let go a second later but Freya laughed lightly.

"It's alright. Van told me about your condition. We've been catching up to each other." She stated and Guy looked at them both. It was weird, yes. The last they had been together was before the Hod War. The war that had taken away everything from him.

"You're travelling with Duke Fabre's son?" she suddenly asked and Guy nodded.

"It's the replica." Van told her, "The actual son was a god-general, remember?"

"Asch?" she asked and he nodded, "Duke Fabre led the Hod War didn't he?" she asked and Guy felt something in the pit of his stomach. The feeling was something unpleasant and he didn't want to talk about this. It was too hard to bear it all.

"I never got to see Mary again." Freya said sadly and Van put a hand on her shoulder and she smiled, "At least you're alright Guy." The blonde nodded in confusion at the thought of his sister while sheathing his sword.

"So you're working against Van now?" she asked and he looked at Van who shrugged then nodded. She sighed, "I never thought it would come to this. I really thought maybe you wanted back your homeland too." She bowed her head sadly and Guy looked at her intently.

"What do you mean?" he asked and she looked away.

"I mean that Van's planning to get the world back to how it used to be before the Hod War. Only better, because the Score won't be there to cause any more chaos." Freya explained and then her voice broke, "I thought maybe you could understand. I don't want to have to fight you Guy." He looked at her and Van sighed.

"Guy, I ask you one more time." The brunette looked into his eyes, "Tell me honestly, doesn't it make you feel traitorous to be helping Duke Fabre's son-"

"Luke's a replica, you know that." Guy shot back as he thrust his hand through his hair. Why were they doing this to him? They were confusing him.

"And helping Luke is helping Asch indirectly." Van told him, "Look here. Can you imagine Hod, our home with all of our people living in it?"

"Mary." Freya put in, "Just think about her."

"She saved me." Guy couldn't take it anymore, "She stood in the way when the Kimlascan soldiers were going to finish off me, the heir to House Gaillardia."

"She didn't save you for nothing, Guy" Freya wanted to put a hand on his shoulder. She really did feel bad for being this cruel, but they had to bring Guy around. He had to understand why they were doing this.

"Do you know?" she looked away, "They killed my mother. A few weeks back. You know why?" she had a bitter expression now, "Because the Score predicted so. Because the Score said she was a sorceress and that sorceresses shouldn't be allowed to live. Is that humane?" she was angry, upset and her hands were shaking with the weight of it all.

"Guy, it's not easy to just suddenly leave all of your past goals and join our ways but you must see the folly and ugliness of the world that has devoted itself to the Score." Van explained as he put a hand in his former master's shoulder.

Suddenly Guy looked at Freya, "Anya. There's a woman who travels with us. She said she saw your mother…what's going on? How did she know?" Freya smiled at him. "And why do you have your eyes like that Freya, what are you hiding?" There were too many questions, and not many options. Either he would go along with Luke or he could join Van in creating his replica world where Mary would be there. Mary with those eyes the same as his, those lively azure eyes sparkling with happiness when he would show her something new, she would act surprised and shocked as he discovered something new…

"We won't push you into anything Guy." Van broke into his thoughts, "Take your time but let us know."

"We'll be there when you want to talk, okay." Freya looked at him and he brushed his hair again.

"I'm still not sure what to do." He admitted, "Just-just give me sometime to think it over." Van and Freya both took it as a good sign and as the finishing point. Any more urging might backfire and Guy could leave. They had brought him to this point; it wouldn't do for him to simply go away because of their foolishness.

"Farewell, see you around." Freya told him with a smile and he asked again.

"Why aren't you letting anyone see what you look like?" he still didn't get what she had to keep from him. She laughed again.

"In the right time, Guy. You'll see" she waved and walked away with Van into the darkness towards Daath.

Loveless… Guy turned back to head into the port. There really was no one left for Freya except Van who would never give her anything more than friendship, neither himself whose heart belonged somewhere else. What had the world done to her? How it had isolated her from everything she had had once upon a time. All that she had cared about had somehow been reduced to nothingness. Guy only wished in time she could find something to live for. If only there was something he could do for her…

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"Ion! Ion, wait." Came a cheerful voice and Jade frowned at the three figures one of who was wearing a cloak, the one shouting Ion's name. The other was a familiarly tiny figure in black who he hoped wasn't Sync the Tempest.

"Luke, Guy. Colonel" Came Anise's loud voice, "Would you men please make yourselves at-"

"Shut up Anise!" Luke told her, "We've found Ion." The guardian gasped and called down the rest of the girls who found Luke with his sword drawn the moment they exited the inn.

"What's going on?" Tear looked at the group huddled. There were too may people, had they drawn a crowd causing a commotion?

"Please Luke; he's not here to hurt any of us." They could hear Ion telling Luke who looked murderous

"What are you talking about?" the red head shouted as if Ion had gone crazy and Sync rolled his eyes.

"He means that I'm not here to kill any of you. Sadly." He added making Anise rush towards him but Ion held her back.

"Everyone. Please don't misunderstand." Ion looked at them, "I had some business here in Daath bay and Sync just accompanied me, that's all."

"He kidnapped you when we were away in Tataroo Valley." Anise shouted and Ion nodded.

"But all of that's over now. I will accompany you all when you're ready." Ion told them ending the discussion but Florian was upset.

"You'll be gone Ion?" he asked, "But then who will play with me?" Ion smiled and put a hand n his shoulder.

"It's alright Florian." He told him, "Sync will be here when you need him."

"What?!" the God-general choked out, "I'm not babysitting Evane." Florian looked sad at this.

"But Sync, I don't have any other friends." He said sadly and then turned to Ion, "Where's your friend Anise?" everyone else in the group simply stared stunned at the scene in front. Just what was happening here?

"This is Anise." Ion introduced, "Everyone, this is Florian."

"Evane." Sync said loudly but Ion ignored.

"Florian, these are my friends." Ion motioned to all of them and the boy looked at them from under the cloak.

"Wow, you have so many friends. But that's okay." His eyes lit up, "I have Sync." The god-general looked ready to kick anyone in his vicinity now.

"I told you, I'm not-"

"Sync." Ion stepped closer, "Please take care of Florian for me." He looked into the God-general's eyes. "I promise your secret is safe with me." He whispered only for him to hear and Sync felt confused somehow. He felt like he almost had a friend, a person he could trust and confide in. He shook his head and shook off the Fon master's arm.

"I'll take care of Evane. Not for you, but because he sees things the way I do." He looked at Florian, "You need to be careful of everyone, including Ion's friends." The God-general was done at that and nodded at Ion who suddenly took him a little distance away. The others stared at the two wondering what had occurred to make things this way.

"Sync, maybe Florian and I are living differently now but in the end it's the same thing for all of us. Don't think you're alone in this world. We may not be related by blood but I feel like you and Florian are brothers to me." Sync pushed him away.

"Stop this nonsense. We're not the same and we don't see eye-to-eye."

"I know." Ion said, "But remember, we're all replicas. We have our own future to choose. We're not ruled by the Score, we have no reason to be. Doesn't that alone make you feel independent?" Sync stalked off towards Florian and prepared to take him inside his house.

"You need to go inside." He told the boy, "And I'll take care of you, I'll teach you how to fight so that you don't have to play the princess like this guy does." He motioned towards Ion and turned back, "Let's go." He steered off the boy towards the hut and Florian said his good-byes and followed. Sync waited long enough for Florian to close the door and then turned away to return to Daath passing by the group that was now talking to Guy who had probably just arrived from somewhere. He looked back to see Ion one last time who smiled in his direction and he sprinted away, not wanting to befriend someone, not wanting to start caring about another human. He was the Tempest, he was ruthless; there was no place for another human in him, he could have no brother even though they were one and the same in many regards. Not Evane, not Ion…

**Surprises huh??Florian early into the story and all that..stay tuned.**


	23. A new finding

**Hiya everyone! This is sooo long I hope it doesn't kill u all but it's kinda important cuz I've changed parts of the u don't understand u cud always ask. **

**Chapter twenty three**

"Oooh! This place is so green." Anise commented from the Albiore as she had her face pressed to the window and Tear sighed.

"Yes, it looks beautiful down there." She said slowly and Natalia nodded.

"I wish we could see more of these scenes." the princess said and the other two agreed wholeheartedly making Anya let out a chuckle.

"I didn't know you'd take to this place even before we enter it." She smiled as she allowed herself a luxurious stretch at the back seat, "Take a look at Garnet City and you'll fall in love." Anise turned to her.

"Garnet City's where you work, right?" she asked.

"I used to be the Instructor at Goldpine Academy, remember? So I didn't have the privilege to have access anywhere in Garnet City I want." Anya explained, "It was only the academy that was my area. Commanding the mercenary forces allows me more room though. But someday, I'm going to change my profession." Tear looked at her in surprise.

"Why would you want to give up your work now, after having made quite some fame?" she asked and Anya sighed then she understood, "Your instructor position has been withdrawn. I'm sorry."

"No need for all that." The older woman replied, "But if I can, then I'd just love to go back to being just an instructor. Being the commander the only time I get to actually have a chance on the battlefield is during the wars and that doesn't happen a lot. I'm so busy." She replied, "I don't have time for anything much." Or anybody else, she thought eyeing Jade and thinking about Tristan at home. A smile crept on her face unconsciously as she thought of him. It had been months, months since she had disappeared without even having the courtesy to say good-bye to her son. Damn, she had to try harder at being a good mother. But she tried, she always tried to be there and besides it wasn't as if Tristan ever complained about it.

"Hey! Where should I land?" Noelle's voice broke her train of thoughts and Anya looked through the window.

"Wow! Is that the castle?" Anise asked as she goggled with large eyes at the towering building, "King Barbarossa's?" she asked and Anya nodded.

"Okay, see the red glow over there?" she pointed towards an area a little far from the castle, "That's Garnet City. There's a landing area right as soon as you enter from the east entrance." Noelle nodded and the others fastened their seat belts for a bumpy ride towards the red glow of the giant fonstone that acted as a landmark.

"Touchdown." Noelle breathed and smiled even though her legs had lost all feeling in them.

"Get out and relax here for a while." Anya told her, "I'll send Selphie as soon as I enter. She'll keep you company, is that okay?" Noelle thanked her and they walked away towards one of the carriages that were waiting to take the passengers to another entrance.

As soon as they stepped out, Selphie was bounding down the stairs and greeting them and then was sent away to Noelle. Laguna came outside and even though he had received a letter informing him of their trip, he was surprised to see Anya all smiles. He went and hugged her tightly.

"I thought you'd change your mind at the last minute and send only your friends here." He told her and she shook her head.

"Grandpa, there's too much to lose by not coming back." She replied and took him by the arm, "We need to discuss the course of our actions. Let's go inside." She motioned to the others and Laguna chatted up to the two young boys as though he had never grown to be the sixty year old man and instead stuck on remaining a teenager.

On the way some students came hurrying to Laguna complaining about some bullies and fights that made the head master exasperated.

"This is what I have been solving half my life time in this place." He said and Anya grinned.

"And this is what you get paid for so well?" she asked, "Maybe I should-"

"Anastacia ." Laguna looked disapprovingly at her, "You think this sort of dressing sets a good example to your students?" Anya looked down at her slightly blood-stained clothes and rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Fine. Fine." She said and went away saying they would meet in front of the conference room.

Laguna assigned Mark, a young, hardly more than nineteen year old good looking guy who was absolutely charming with the ladies yet had his eyes on the red head for directing them towards their destination. And suddenly a little figure bumped to Natalia and the boy fell on his rear.

"Oh my!" Natalia exclaimed, "How careless of me. Are you alright?" she asked the boy who shook his dark hair out of his brown eyes that had a light hue of golden in his brown irises.

"No ma'am." He replied, "I apologize for not having been more careful." He looked up at them with a smile showing that he was proud of his speech. It was very refined as Natalia would say.

"Tristan." The boy accompanying them scowled at the child, "You know this area is off limits for you." The little boy rolled his eyes.

"I've heard that before." He told him and then turned to the group, "Who are you guys? You don't seem to be students." He noticed their lack of uniform. Very observant, Jade noted. Well, he had noticed the similarity in his eyes to that of Anya's. It was a feature you'd be stupid not to see. But something about Anya was concerning him. The eyes….

"No, we're here on work actually." Luke told him, "So, if you're Tristan the-" Suddenly the boy stood right in front of him, beaming.

"I know you." He said, "Elena told me about you guys. You're Duke Fabre's son, right?" he asked and Luke was at a loss for words.

"Yeah." He replied, "Kid, how do you know so much?" Tristan shrugged.

"I'm smart." He told them and Anise groaned.

"Colonel, I think you both would get along very well." She told him and he chuckled.

"I'm sure we would." He told her and then smiled at the boy, "How do you do?" he asked and the boy had to walk backwards to be able to see him properly.

"I'm great, thank you." He smiled and then frowned as if he hadn't been given the attention he was worth, "If you guys are here, that means mama's here too, right?" he asked and they all told him so. He beamed happily.

"No kidding?" he asked Guy who laughed.

"Nope." He replied and ruffled the little boy's hair, "Now, did you come looking for her?" Tristan shook his head.

"No, I was bored at home so I came to visit Lezard." He told them innocently and the girls shared a meaningful look. If Anya had really had an affair with said man, then Tristan too was probably his son. And from the boy's tone, it didn't seem as if he had any knowledge on that matter.

"Well, why don't you go prepare for your mother's return at home?" Jade asked the boy hinting him to leave, "Head Master Lezard Valeth is a little busy at the moment." He told him and the boy huffed.

"I can stay wherever I want to." He replied, "My mama is the instructor here." Jade sighed; children who were stubborn were…tough to deal with.

"She's not anymore but even if she was it doesn't give you the right to be roaming around." Mark told him rudely and Tristan glared at him. He didn't stick out his tongue like Elena. It was a childish behavior and he had grown up a few days back. He had to act like a big boy to impress mama, now that she had returned.

"Let's not start a fight over something so petty." Jade stepped in and turned to Tristan, "I'm sure your mother would be glad to see you at your best in your studies."

"I'm done with my studies." Tristan replied, "I ended up with full marks in all my tests except one." He told them and Jade sighed exasperatedly.

"Over confidence isn't a good trait, especially in children." He told the boy who blinked.

"But I'm only saying the truth." And that was it. Jade had never understood or cared to understand why people were so irritated when he was being so damned honest. But again, he meant to annoy them. At the moment thankfully, Sasha arrived in her uniform and an additional floor length coat to compliment her short skirt that didn't do much to hide her shapely legs.

"Hey you guys." She came with a smile, "Didn't think I'd see you here so soon." Anise looked up at her.

"It's been more than two months." She told her in a whiny voice, "How's that soon?"

"Well, time flies by." Sasha replied and then took Tristan by the hand. "And you young man, should get going now."

"Let me go." He shouted and then ran over to Natalia, "You're the princess, right?" he asked, "Can I have your autograph? And yours too? And yours?" he looked at Luke and then Jade both of who didn't respond. He shuffled in is pockets to find a pencil or something when he realized he didn't have any.

"Fine, I'll see you guys later." He told them with an adorable smile, "Bye Mr. Red and you too princess." He curtsied and looked up, "You're very beautiful, princess." Natalia flushed and thanked him but Sasha had already dragged the boy out of the place with a roll of her eyes and a wave at them.

"Energetic, isn't he?" Guy commented with a laugh and looked at Luke, "What is it?"

"He called me Red too." He whined and then trotted off following Mike when a few minutes later they had reached one of the top levels using an elevator. As soon as they got off Anya came towards them.

"Wow, you guys. You just got here?" she asked them and Guy had his eye glued to her body. "Get moving already." She hissed at him while he rubbed the back of his neck with a light blush.

"Sorry, I guess I just fund out why women in uniform are said to be attractive." He muttered and Anya blushed a little herself. Luke rolled his eyes.

"And that's why girls go falling all over you." He told his best friend and although it wasn't the red head's fault, Guy suddenly had a bout of detestation at his friend. Anya turned to face Mark to divert the attention from her when Anise snickered uncontrollably.

"I think this will be all." She told him, "I can take it from here." Mark looked surprisingly disappointed at this.

"It's okay Instructor." He said gracefully, "There's no need to trouble yourself-"

"But I'm not troubling myself at all." She cut in with a biting tone at the mention of her previous title, "We have important business to discuss. Besides, all the men are taken." She added just to see Mark's disappointed sigh and almost laughed out.

"But they don't look like it." He muttered and Anya smiled sweetly at the group and then motioned to Luke and Tear.

"These two are the prettiest love-birds you'd find in all of Auldrant." She told him and he let out a frustrated sigh.

"Good luck with Head Master." He told her, "I suppose you know that the rumors about your affairs-"

"I'm aware, thank you." Anya's tone indicated that their chat was over and that meant his line to get the hell out of there. He turned a last time to see the group departing and Anise turning to blow a kiss in his direction. He smiled but grimaced inwardly. Why did all the women go crazy about him anyway? He heaved another sigh at Luke's retreating back. Another hetero gone to waste.

"He was sooo cute. And he looked totally rich. I could so marry him." Anise giggled happily and Jade grinned.

"But Luke's on the list before Mark." He commented earning an angry growl from Luke and chuckled. "Besides, your new groom seemed more interested in Luke." He loved the expression on Anise's face. This was the reaction he wanted when he teased children. Surprise, confusion and every other related emotion in a single moment.

"What?!" she almost shouted and Luke glared.

"Shut up Jade!" It was enough that Anya had lied to make it look like him and Tear was…NO! She didn't mean anything by it. It was just a cover-up. Then why the hell was he so embarrassed about it? On top of that Jade had to go piling all that rubbish talk…

"He has a weakness for red heads." Anya informed with a laugh in her eyes the thirteen year old who shook her head mentally cutting out Mark's name from her list of eligible men.

"Here we are." Anya breathed almost nervously as they stood in front of the conference room. It would be months since she had last met her ex. And the partiality of their sentence still irked her although she had no reason to be mad at him. But she needed to blame somebody for it. The doors were opened by the guards and they walked inside to see Laguna and Lezard already seated at a round table with two other head members. The golden lights given off from above made it look more like a gambling area and Anise almost expected the four people seated to take out a deck of cards any moment and begin playing.

The introductory period wasn't long but still Luke was impatient to get to the main objective as it seemed unnecessary to get to know each other's names. Natalia, himself, Ion and Jade was there right? What was the big deal anyway? They should just have gotten down to business as soon as they'd heard the necromancer's name. Weren't people supposed to be scared of him?

"But Princess Natalia and Luke Fon Fabre were said to have been perished in the destruction of Akzeriuth." Lezard's smooth voice reached the red head's ears and he straightened up.

"Yeah, but everyone knows we're alive now. It was a misunderstanding." He directed at Lezard, "What sort of proof do you need anyway?" Lezard looked at the boy for a second and then smiled.

"I assure you, I did not doubt your word for a second." He told them looking at both Natalia and Luke with reassuring smiles and a warm look in his blue eyes. And this, Anya mused, was why she loved the man. He was so damn trusting; you could pour out your entire life story to him without any hesitance knowing he wouldn't make any unwanted comments.

"But news takes time to travel to Midgard." He was saying, "You're at a disadvantage." Luke wanted to shout and just shake him by the collar. Why did their identity matter so much? The word would be reaching its end if action wasn't taken fast enough.

"But why does it matter?" Natalia asked echoing Luke's thoughts, "Auldrant is in danger. It's our top most priority-"

"Natalia." Jade cut in, "We could be impostors for all they know. His Majesty cannot allow something as complex as Sephiroths to be handled by just about anyone. One mistake and we could end up annihilating this area like Akzeriuth." Natalia looked down knowing he was right and Luke didn't even want to speak anymore, not after remembering Akzeriuth. Ion decided to speak up.

"Maybe if I tried talking…" he looked at them expectantly and the four head members thought on it.

"Why do we have to go through this anyway?" Anya's sudden speech brought everyone out of their reverie, "I mean you four know about Natalia and Luke being the genuine royalty." She stopped for a second to choose her words carefully but didn't think it could be made easier so chose to be blunt. "Why don't we just go do our work without letting the king know about it?" She was ready for the outburst from her grandpa.

"That's ridiculous." He hissed, "Something as serious as this-"

"Yes, I understand." Anya apologized and sat there wondering what to do when Lezard obliged.

"I think a conference with the king would be most logical at this point. Real princess or not, your intentions are those of saving Auldrant and you have my support completely." He stood up after Laguna who asked for a messenger to prepare a carriage.

"You think this is going to work?" Anya asked worriedly from behind Lezard and he smiled.

"The King trusts us. You and me." He told her, "Besides, we have the Fon Master with us. As long as none of you make a mistake in your speech, everything will be just fine." He took hold of her hand to assure her and she smiled after a moment of surprise. It wasn't just Jade who made her feel this way.

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On their way to the castle Anise constantly kept her eyes out for anything, any exchange between Lezard and Anya so she could gossip a bit and tease her later about it. Nor did she see any dangerous sparks from the colonel's side to Lezard's. She huffed as she tried to get comfortable with the three mentioned people sitting in the same carriage. If she had known there would have been no interesting exchange, she would have stayed on the other coach with Ion. The only thing the two men talked about was fontech and fonic artes. She should've let Guy come instead of her here. Older people were so hard to understand, she mused. She knew there had been more-than-friendly actions where it concerned Anya and Jade. So did that mean it was only an impulsive action from both sides with no implication of an actual relationship? At least Lezard should have had some reaction but again, maybe he didn't know anything about them. Anise sighed as the castle finally arrived after a long wait. She had wasted her time on a love triangle that included old handsome men and one woman who was nothing out of the ordinary. No doubt she was a nice person but if it hadn't been for that body, Anise was sure not one of the two men would have given much time or thought to her. That was the way she thought of it.

Their reception couldn't have been any more dramatic. Who would have thought the queen would have fainted at the sight of the girls? The dark haired ones looked like her daughter, she said. But as far as Anya or Lezard knew, there was only Alicia; the blond and small princess of Midgard. The king seemed almost to scorn the queen's condition and told the group not to worry. It was only a small incident about his first daughter that haunted the queen. And with that they got down to business.

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Arietta trotted through the grassy plains between Daath and Daath bay. This wasn't exactly the best day in the entirety of her life. Ion had once again been taken away by Anise and her friends. Sync had captured him and then…how could he have been so stupid so as to let something like this happen? She hugged Mienaga to her chest and tried to calm down but something held her down.

Why did Ion have to go away with Anise anyway? He had seemed to care about her so genuinely when she had been his guardian, she had almost let it slip that she was in love with him. Yes, she felt that strongly for him. Sync could make fun of it as much as he wanted to, it wasn't any of her business but the problem was…she hated that fact being mentioned. Time and again, she couldn't help going over that day when she had been replaced as the guardian. She hadn't wanted to; she had wanted to be at Ion's side. In fact just that day a few minutes before Mohs dropped the bomb on her she had been nervously pacing her room trying to think up of a way to confess her feelings to Ion.

She had expected Ion to fight back, to ask for Arietta, to disagree with the appointing of a new guardian but all he had done was stand there. And when she had asked him with tears in her eyes, tears that held every motion she experienced at that moment, he had looked at her as if he didn't know who she was. That one second of looking into his eyes and not finding her Ion had done it. She had fled from the cathedral and Ion hadn't come looking for her. He had been too busy with Anise. He was back to being himself within a few days but even so, he didn't want her back. Sure he was nice and talked to her but his priority seemed to be Anise.

"Ahhahaa. Haaha." Came a childish, cute sort of laugh from the direction of the bay which she had neared and she listened for the laughing signs wondering who would be here roaming around. She walked slowly and caught a bit of white hiding among the grass while another little boy came looking for the person.

"Florian. Come out, I can't find you if you keep changing your hiding place like that." The boy was saying and Arietta felt curious. Someone was playing hide-and-seek in these areas?

"It's dangerous out here. My dad's waiting for me, I'm going back." She heard the boy shout and Arietta decided to check out the situation when the little boy ran back towards the bay. She approached with caution and heard a rustling noise when the boy who'd been hiding got up with his back to her. She would just make sure he'd be okay, that was all. Maybe she was a God-General but it didn't mean she couldn't help out civilians at times. That was what soldiers were for in the first place. Anise was probably the only young child she didn't mind hurting at all.

"Excuse me." Arietta called out slowly to the boy in front who turned around fast in surprise. Mienaga fell from Arietta's hands as she took in the sight of him. WHAT?! I-ion?? But Ion wasn't supposed to be here and –and-

"Oh hi!" he chirped and smiled at Arietta, "Are you out here to play too?" His questions threw Arietta off-balance. Just what did he mean?? This boy didn't act like Ion but he still looked and sounded like- NO! She shook her head to rid herself of the thought. Ion was dead. Was gone long ago. Her Ion had been killed for the Score, to read the Score. It had had her completely immersed in grief when she'd found out that the reason she had been replaced as a guardian. It wasn't because she wasn't suitable, it was because the Ion that stood in front of her then was a replica of the original Ion; her Ion. She wasn't used to eavesdropping on Mohs's conversations usually but she had been unable to stop herself the day she had seen Mohs taking Ion alone to his room as if for something important that wasn't related to his usual duties. Mohs would usually come himself when called by Ion but to take charge of the Fon Master wasn't normal. And moreover, Ion had looked completely lost so Arietta had been forced to follow and sometimes wished she hadn't.

What she had found out that day was that this Ion was a replica but what got to her more was the way Mohs would speak to him when he thought that no one was watching him. Even though she knew this Ion wasn't her Ion, she found out that the only way to deal with her loss was to pretend like everything was normal and that this new Fon Master was her Ion. Soon she had almost believed herself and at one point, even refused to believe that Ion had actually died. This new Ion acted just like her Ion, was just as nice. Taking away Ion from Anise made her feel better. She had forced herself to think that this Ion was hers and couldn't go back to thinking about him as a replica. No, he was the same Ion who had helped her through everything, who had been there to give a shoulder when she needed it. It was a make-believe world she lived in and no one was going to take away that part of her thoughts from her, no one could change it.

"So what's your name?" she asked the boy in front; another replica. He smiled.

"I'm Florian." He told her and then thought about it, "Evane."

"Florian Evane?" Arietta asked gently, still not being able to register everything in her head. She was just going with the flow.

"No, Ion called me Florian." He replied, "Sync called me Evane." Arietta looked surprised at this. Sync knew this boy??

"You know Sync and Ion?" she asked and he nodded.

"Do you know them too?" he asked with his eyes shining brightly.

"Y-yes." She replied.

"Can you take me to Sync?" he asked and this as the last thing she had expected.

"Sync?" she asked to make sure and he nodded, "But why him?"

"Ion said he was going on an important work." Florian told her, "So I want to see one of them. And Sync told me before that he works in Daath. How do you know Sync? Is he a friend?" he spoke all at once and Arietta had trouble keeping up along with everything in her head at the moment.

"We're colleagues." She told him and he looked confused, "We work together." She answered and he nodded to show that he understood. She sighed as she turned back towards Daath. She would have a long talk with Sync on this.

00000000000000000000000000000000

The discussion didn't need to be long. In fact, within minutes of Natalia's and Luke's outburst at the king's denial had gotten the king into thinking that these two may be the royalty. Not only that but Fon Master Ion himself had asked for permission. It was even more believable when Jade asked for the king's consent to give him an official document where he had detailed the events occurring and their long-term results. Jade the Necromancer would hardly go on a journey that wasn't important, and Auldrant's destruction seemed bad enough. Everyone else looked at Jade amazedly. When did that man have time to do this?

Jade kneeled on one knee in front of the king and just as the old man took the document from the colonel, he looked up at him and a frown set in his face. The king's eyes, even though he was old had a golden shine in them. A golden he was sure he had seen somewhere not too long ago…He stood up and went back to his previous place pushing the thought at the back of his mind, they had more important things to focus on.

"I will read this thoroughly, I assure you." The king told them with a tired smile. Royalty sure had a lot of work on their hands; for the first time, Anise was glad not to be one of them. The money was a different matter though.

"I would like to ask Lezard what he thinks on this matter." The king looked at the headmaster, "You're a trustworthy man. So do you think these people should be allowed for something as risky as this?"

Lezard looked at the king with no hint of any malice hidden in his voice, "I assure you My Majesty, these travelers have been travelling from the other end of the world to stop the damage that could happen to Midgard had we not known about the situation. A lead will let us take some action now." He said it all with such sincerity as if he had known the group from the very beginning; it was a deceiving act but a smart one at the moment. The king nodded and turned to Anya's direction to her surprise.

"Would your opinion on the matter be the same?" he asked her and she thought for a second why her views mattered at all.

"The very same, Your Majesty." She replied with a doubtful look in the king's direction. He smiled at her warmly.

"I suppose you're thinking why I'd taken your view on the matter." He had seen right through that expression and somehow Anya was glad. At least she wouldn't have to ask him directly.

"You're a soldier worthy of my trust just like Lezard Valeth is." He told her and surprised her. "I have known since quite some time about you training Alicia." Anya looked scared at this. Did that mean she was going to in the dungeons? It was breaking the law wasn't it? Anyone could say that she had been in league with a group of robbers who had taken out the princess often or so many other stories could come up but the king didn't seem to be showing any hostile emotions.

"I'm glad she's safe." He told her, "There's no one closer to her as a friend than you are. I worried about losing my remaining daughter to something sinister but with you being there for her at every step, I suppose she has a right to live a free life too. I'd never liked keeping her imprisoned here much." Anya was touched by this and felt a little embarrassed. It wasn't as if she had been consciously doing all of that, it wasn't as if she had wanted the princess's attention and kindness all along. She had just been trying to be a good teacher and somehow, it had paid off nicely, although the king made her seem like some sort of angel with all his compliments.

"I- thank you, your Majesty." Anya managed and curtsied politely.

"You have my consent." The king told them, "Save Midgard, save Auldrant." He asked them with such passion in his eyes, they knew he loved his kingdom and his people. If only father had been like that, Natalia thought sadly and then rid herself of the thought. He was no longer a father to her.

00000000000000000000000000000000

Sync was in a grouchy mood. Very. There had been no work in the last six days unless you counted the paperwork. Really, what was the point of making him do all the mundane work? And why did Van have to ask for the submission? The commandant had said that they were supposed to act normal, natural. Being so high in a position had its bad sides alright. He walked out through the cathedral doors ignoring every good morning he got and that was the only courtesy they showed him. No one stopped to ask how the God-General was or if he needed anything. Sync the Tempest acted like they didn't exist and they were only happy to stay out of is way.

Sync felt a lot better as soon as he was out of that stuffy building. Pilgrims seemed to have come today like cattle, it was a Lorelei day. He tried to think of what to do and then finally decided to go train in the forest by himself so that no one would disturb his peace of mind. No one better had.

He punched a hole into the tree's bark and held back a proud smirk. It wouldn't do to get confident just yet. A series of kicks and a hand chop sent part of the tree on to the ground. He puffed out in exhaustion of his ten minutes training where he had stretched himself to his limits, like always. It increased stamina, he had learnt and therefore he would keep doing it. Suddenly he heard a rustle behind him and was immediately on his feet. If someone was trying to sneak up on him especially Dist, then he'd-

His jaw would have dropped open, had he been someone else but he had a lot of control on things like these. Arietta had found his secret training area and moreover…

"Hi Sync!" Florian skipped to him leaving Arietta behind who simply walked towards them as if everything was normal. Sync looked at the two in doubt. He had forgotten about Florian. Okay, not necessarily but he hadn't given the boy much thought.

"Evane?" Sync looked at him and wondered why the boy looked so pleased. But again, he was happy all the time. "What's making you so happy?" he asked a little roughly as was his manner. There was nothing he could do to change it but Florian didn't pick up on it.

"Can you believe it Sync? I met your friend Arietta when I was playing." He told him and then turned back to see Arietta who had settled down on one of the rocks toying with Mienaga's ears. Sync sneered at her, big girls playing with those ugly dolls. At least she wasn't making him play 'marriage' with her dolls. The first time she had tried had been right after he had joined the Oracle Knights. She had made out a 'house' for the dolls to live in from stray pieces of cardboards and papers and all she had done was ask him to make one of the female dolls move like a puppeteer and talk in a girl's voice so that she could get Mienaga get married to it. The next second, her shabby house had been in pieces and she in tears but not before managing a claw at his face. His mask had almost fallen to give away his face but Arietta was too busy crying away through the door. He had decided to keep it that way until Legretta and Largo had stepped on it and made him apologize to her which he hadn't done right away but they had been on a mission together. Unless he'd apologize, he would be left with no company and be bored to death so he had given in and Arietta hadn't put up an argument either. They had gotten along just fine until she mentioned Ion again.

"Yes Florian." Arietta looked up, "I'm glad I found you right then. And to think of it, Sync, you never told me you had a friend." She looked at him with her eyes holding a sparkle usually not seen either because she would always be crying or because she just didn't feel lively.

"Is that any of your business?" Sync asked her rudely and she looked annoyed. She didn't want a fight with Sync, he always got to her. Largo had told her about trying to keep it cool so he would eventually get bored and then give up.

"I was only trying to be nice Sync." She stood up, "Florian wanted to meet you, so I brought him here." Sync gave her a skeptical look. She didn't seem least bit upset or confused. Shouldn't she have asked why he looked like Ion or something like that? But she seemed to be accepting the fact as if it was pretty normal.

"Is that so?" Sync asked now focusing on Florian, "And why would I want to waste time with you?" Florian looked upset and Arietta looked outraged.

"Sync." She came up to him, "Just who do you think you are? You think you're someone very important? Just because Florian is a replica don't treat him that way." She looked angry yet at the same time she felt upset, hurt. The word replica had her dizzy all over again. She had seen Ion being used as nothing but one to read the Score and destroy himself. Her Ion had died that way and it killed her to see that Mohs would be doing the same to a replica too.

"Sync." Florian's voice seemed so timid, it irritated Sync but he turned anyway. "I just wanted to-wanted to learn." Sync was caught off-guard.

"Learn?" he asked and Florian nodded happily now that Sync's voice had lost all hostility.

"You said I could learn to fight." He reminded Sync and the two God-generals had their eyebrows raised.

"Why would you do that?" Arietta asked Sync. As far as she knew, Sync wasn't exactly the friendly types and if you annoyed him to his limits there was no way he would ever want to waste a breath on you. Then how come he was actually trying to help Florian?

"We don't want people to go kidnapping Evane, now do we?" Sync pointed out, "Unlike your Ion, I don't want him being taken away by force without putting up a fight even while having the power of a Fon Master. That's why." He ended with a smirk at Arietta's outraged expression and turned to Florian while fixing his mask.

"It' not Ion's fault." She finally said fidgeting with Mienaga. She always agreed to kidnapping Ion because that way she could have him back. She couldn't bear the thought of losing him again. He had died on her once and this time…No! The Ion she knew was her Ion. He was no replica. She looked up at Sync and saw a part of his mask as he tucked it over his ears and a wicked idea played in her head. If she could aim properly, then maybe Sync's mask might come off. A bit. When Sync turned, he was hit by Mienaga and his mask almost tipped to the side revealing part of his face. Arietta giggled lightly at the disoriented behavior but stopped when Sync stared at her with a stormy expression which she could only guess from his silence.

"W-what is it?" she asked timidly and he didn't respond, "Sync?"

"If you did that on purpose Arietta." He spoke dangerously and she took a step back, "I swear I'll make you pay so bad you'll wish you'd never done that." He gritted his teeth and waked away with Florian while Arietta still stood, trying to calm down her heart. Why had he reacted so bashfully, so angrily? Why did it have to be so serious?

"Wait!" she called out as she trotted over to them and Sync kept walking without looking back.

"Where are you going?" she asked as she caught up to them after a bit of running. Florian smiled at her innocently and Sync jerked him by the arm to direct him to their right.

"I'm going to train Florian." He told Arietta, "Stay out of our way and go back to the cathedral." Arietta scowled. He was being way more mean than usual.

"No. I'm going to come with you." She announced and almost smiled when she felt the outraged feeling from Sync beneath the mask.

"No you won't." he told her and began walking away faster but she kept pace with him.

"Yes I will." She countered, "And don't try to stop me because you know I'll just follow you to the end of the world if that's what I need to do." The moment she said that she blushed right away as Sync turned to her with a smirk.

"Is that so?" he drawled and she looked away.

"I didn't mean that." Was all she said and Sync shrugged.

"Fine. Whatever."

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"Guy!" Natalia and Anise shouted in unison as he got scratched badly from a flying bat. Luke struck it once more and it fell to the ground leaving the place empty once again and the healers took a look at Guy.

"Tear." Anya stepped up before the melodist could perform 'heal'. "I think you've done enough healing for a day." She motioned to Luke's elbow, "Don't overexert yourself even before we reach the Sephiroth." Tear looked hesitantly at Guy's ankle that had been crushed by a huge owl like monster before the bats had arrived. Anya knelt beside him and he cowered as he was surrounded by Anise and Natalia.

"I-I can walk." He said quickly, "Really, it's fine." Anya shook her head with a smile.

"Relax." She told him and then turned to Tear, "Put him to sleep so that we can work in peace." Tear nodded and began singing. Guy's mind began a set of hazy motions as his sight began blurring and it wasn't just because of Tear's hymn, he realized amusedly. It was Natalia's new perfume that Anise had given to cheer up the princess although the money had probably not come from her own pocket. The last moment before his eyes closed he frowned lightly as Anya's face seemed close enough so he could get a glance at her eyes. They looked different; he didn't remember them being so….golden. Was he hallucinating? Anya looked into his eyes and he felt a familiar sensation and passed out.

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Freya touched her face lightly in front of the mirror as if examining for some defect but there was none to be found. She was flawless, not beautiful but flawless. She heard a knock and to her surprise found Van at the door when she opened it.

"What are you doing here?" she asked pleasantly, "Not that I'm complaining, I'm totally bored to death." Van seemed serious but didn't he always? She motioned inside her room and he stepped in.

"You don't look like yourself." Was the first thing he said and she tilted her head.

"What does that mean?" she turned back to the mirror, "Here I am, appealing as always." She told him with a smirk and a flick of her violet bangs although he didn't lighten up.

"I suppose you don't mind explaining your eye then." he turned to face her properly then and she frowned.

"What's your problem?" she asked rudely, "So my eye look darker than usual, so what?" She avoided looking at him. She didn't have any idea how to best explain it to him. She truly missed having the golden hue in her only eyes. It had made her feel special; a little bossy, frightening in fact. But she had loved the feel of being so very different from the other living people around her.

"Look Van, it's complicated." Was all she said but Van didn't move an inch, "You should really go, Legretta might start cooking up notions in her head." She told him with a smirk.

"Trying to change the subject won't do." He told her and she sighed. "I will only try being a good friend."

"I know we are supposed to be childhood friends Van." Freya spoke up with a scowl, "But the fact is, we've been separated for so many years. So much has happened in the time that's elapsed, I don't know if I can just start talking to you the way I would before." She sighed as she turned towards the window with a blank expression. She had become used to being emotionless; it was so much easier with nothing to lose. She closed her eyes wondering what would happen to her later. A few months? Was that all she had if she kept giving herself away like this to Anya? It wasn't like it was Anya's fault either; she had no idea what Freya was doing to herself every time she allowed herself to merge with Anya even for a few seconds. It was dangerous-

"Freya, if you don't consult anybody about it-" Freya turned to Van so suddenly that he stopped knowing that she would now talk.

"To put it simply" she started, "I've been feeding myself off to Anya." She saw the raised eyebrow and held back a laugh. "I told you before; it wouldn't make sense if I talked."

"Maybe if you cared to explain properly, I would." Van sounded slightly impatient but it wasn't that obvious and she shook her head.

"We're perfect isofons." She told him, "That's why we can communicate through our fon slots so that's what I've been doing. I can get inside her head although she doesn't feel it until I signal it to her somehow." She paused for a second and then continued, "This way I can also let her see some of my memories and thoughts and that's when I have the problem. The more I give myself to her, there's less of me." She tried thinking of a way to explain when Van spoke up slowly.

"Could it mean that you risk shortening your life span?" he asked and she nodded with tightness in her chest. It had never been so hard before, it had always been much easier to simply keep the thought that she would just fade away within a few years and be nothing but a being that had lived and died, no one caring enough for her to even be a memory. But talking to another person made it so much harder but she was a woman who could endure all of this so she looked at Van with a hard set of eyes.

"It doesn't matter." She said hoarsely, "I was only trying to somehow help Anya I guess although that wasn't my intention."

"If you were giving away your thoughts to somebody else then you must've wanted them to keep that part of you living inside them." Van said slowly as he realized that she only had a short time, "I suppose Anya's nothing more than a host." Freya laughed.

"Don't make me sound like some sort of a parasite. It's disgusting." She told him as she stood up and pushed him lightly towards the door, "I swear Legretta will be getting jealous if you stay any longer." Van didn't respond to that but exited.

"If you need anything, call for me." He told her with a concerned look and she felt a smile creeping to her face.

"Will you be spending the night in Legretta's room?" she asked with a laugh in her eyes and Van turned away.

"No, we'll be working in my room tonight." And he left Freya in her thoughts. Work, indeed.

00000000000000000000000000000000

Anya's fingers trailed across the cracked walls as the group now walked towards the area where the Sephiroth would likely be situated. Although the place was confusing and filled with monsters, the group had been spared the seriousness of the situation while trying to wake up Guy and Anise had to come up with the idea of Jade casting 'Splash' on him which the colonel had done without a second thought. He had only said that he had been trying to get a hit at a monster and Guy had half believed only because there had been an owl like creature right then charging at them.

"What's up?" Anise asked Anya who had had a slightly faraway look as she kept looking around the place. Any turned to her with a smile and shook her head.

"It's just that" she smiled, "This was where it all started. The first time I got teleported by mistake…"

"That's how you came to the cheagle woods, right?" Luke asked Anya and she nodded.

"Teleportation is an interesting topic." Jade piped up from behind suddenly, "I will see to have more explanation on it once we have this matter off from our hands." He motioned towards the Sephiroth as they approached.

"Okay, what do we have to do to take the measurements?" Anise asked hopefully as she peered at the edges on tiptoe but keeping a safe distance so she wouldn't fall. Jade walked over to where Tear was standing in front of the book that had just reacted to her but Guy seemed to be over his head now.

"Can I take the measurements?" he asked like a child and Jade handed the device to the blonde. They all looked in his direction when he took the measurements of the vibration expecting some sort of loud noise or explosion but nothing came.

"Errr, that's all?" Luke asked hesitantly and Jade turned to them.

"What do you mean?" he asked and Anise rolled her eyes.

"It means that we were expecting something much cooler. Not this boring." She commented as she eyed the area with a shake of her pigtails. Honestly, sometimes she thought that only Luke and Tear got to be doing all the work. Not that she wanted to be working all the time but still…

"We weren't measuring for fun, you know." He told her with a slight dryness to his voice as he took the device from Guy when suddenly the area lurched a bit throwing most of them off-balance.

"What the hell?" Luke looked around but no monster came and Jade looked serious.

"There's not much time." He told them, "The dysfunctional Sephiroth is really taking on a toll. It won't hold much longer." Anise looked slightly scared.

"You make it sound like the end is so near." She told the colonel who didn't crack a smile.

"It will be if we don't complete our work in time." He told her and then turned to Luke, "We should prepare to lower this area and write the commands for the descent of the others lands as well." Luke nodded and began joining lines across one circle to the next according to Jade's instructions. Tear hoped they could do it a little faster as she felt herself tiring and her strength wanting to give away. She had never been this weak before, but again; she hadn't exactly stressed herself so much before.

"Done. All set." Luke smiled a little happily until he noticed Tear who swayed on her spot slightly and Natalia ran over to her.

"Tear, are you alright?" Anya asked with a concerned look and Tear nodded as she stood straight again.

"I'm fine. I just felt a little tired, that's all." She tried to reassure them but Luke gave an anxious look.

"When we have a bit of time on our hands we're getting you checked up." He told the melodist and walked away before anyone could make a comment about it and Tear felt herself blushing a little at the attention from the red head then shook her head and walked away after him while trying to ignore Anise's giggles.

"Did you hear that?" she was saying, "He's so worried about her." Another snicker. It was definitely none other than Anya.

"It's so cute the way they keep avoiding each other's hints." The woman stated easily as Tear turned to face them.

"Grow up, you two. Luke and I are only friends." The melodist seemed a little surprised at her own choice of words. Friends? Was that what she thought of them? She had been more of a guardian to him but maybe this was friendship…who knew? But apparently the two females behind her weren't done yet.

"We never hinted anything else Tear." Anya looked at her innocently, "And I can't grow up any more, I think I've bypassed-"

"Yes, let's get going before this place comes down on us." Tear interrupted and wondered how her companions could sometimes be so out of their league.

00000000000000000000000000000000

"Whew!" Anise skipped happily towards the exit of the castle, "We're all done here which means we get to rest-"

"-And eat." Luke said happily as he joined Anise who looked at him disapprovingly.

"You'll become fat if you eat so much." She told him slyly and he turned to her with an indignant expression.

"Settle your food matter later." Guy told the two, "But where are Anya and Jade?" Anise looked around with a sneaky smile at Lezard's direction. He had been a gentleman and stayed till they returned.

"Are those two off alone somewhere?" she cooed, "I wonder what they're up to, don't you?" she looked up at Lezard who merely smiled at her innocently.

"Not at all." He replied, "Colonel Curtiss was having a word with the Queen herself the last time I heard of him. And Anya is no doubt with Alicia for the moment; we might as well wait for a while." Anise humph-ed and trotted off to annoy Guy. Either the man was dense or he didn't care about his ex-girlfriend.

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-Princess's room-

"Anya." Alicia seemed nervous as her hands knotted again, "I'm sorry to bother you about this but I needed to talk to someone and I'd prefer it be a girl." Anya smiled reassuringly but kept standing. No matter how close, a commoner was still not to be allowed to take a seat whenever she liked.

"It's about my mother's condition." She started, "She's been this way since many years. With my birth, things seem better but she could never get over the loss of her first daughter even now." She paused.

"What happened to her?" Anya asked.

-Queen's room-

"My daughter was supposed to be shipped off as a baby who wasn't anything more than two months old." The golden haired queen was saying, "I asked one of my faithful attendants to take her away somewhere far." She paused to see if Jade wanted to say something.

"Maybe if you could give me a name, it could make my work easier but I cannot promise anything." Jade looked at her directly and she nodded.

"Kayla McClain. That was the attendant." Jade thought about it. McClain…it could be and it seemed more like it when the queen suddenly mentioned something else.

"My daughter was a sorceress so my husband tried to get rid of her. I was only trying to save my child." She whispered as if asking for absolution and Jade motioned for her to continue. "I have a feeling that she's not yet dead though. If she was, I would have felt something as being her own mother." Jade waited for the moment to come when he could pop his question and he could get out of here.

"You have any idea whatsoever might have happened to your daughter?" he asked and she shook her head.

"I suppose you've never been in any contact with her in all these years then how do you expect me to be able to find out about her for you?" She looked up at him.

"You seem like a very capable man, trustworthy in fact." Jade didn't know if he should agree with that but let it go. "The woman I saw earlier, Anya." She had hit the mark and Jade waited to hear her words. "I thought she reminded me of my daughter." The queen said sheepishly and Jade wanted to smile triumphantly. Things were still confusing but at least he was getting somewhere.

"But if you've never seen your daughter in so many years, how could you assume that she could look like Anya?" he asked and the queen sighed.

"I suppose it's a mother thing but I maybe wrong since she didn't have any reaction at all in seeing me."

"But something caused you to confirm it." He stated and she nodded.

"Her eyes." She told him, "They seemed to be the same shade as my husband's. It's not every day you find many people with eyes like that." Jade didn't answer and waited. When she didn't speak up he asked one last question for his own conformity.

"Your daughter had her father's eyes?" he asked and the queen nodded tiredly. He bowed low and kissed her hand.

"Farewell." I will find out what I can. Freya was the one he needed but he would start off with Anya, she was an important part in all this.

- Princess's room-

"So you're asking me to find her and bring her here for you?" Anya looked at the blonde princess incredulously.

"Please, I think it's the only thing I can really do for my mother. If possible, I would go out to hunt her myself but-"

"Don't be ridiculous." Anya cut in, "I am in the middle of important work but I'll see what I can find." The princess nodded her head vigorously with a smile. "I'm not promising anything." Anya told her as she made her way out of the door.

"My, I didn't expect you to be stalking me already." She heard a familiar voice from her right and turned to see the colonel in blue with an easy smile.

"I didn't expect you to stay back." She said innocently, "Were you worried about me?" He raised an eyebrow and then motioned towards the exit.

"I wouldn't worry about a sidekick in a million years. I suppose it's my good looks, one simply can't resist, can they?" The next time he smiled she was steaming as he made his way out rather airily.

Sidekick?? Just who did he think he was?

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"We've been waiting for like ages." Anise was the first to greet them, "What were you two busy doing inside?" she whispered fiercely looking at both of them.

"We were discussing about recipes like all other old people." He told her and then walked away leaving an irritated Anise and Anya who seemed to have calmed down a bit.

"So we've reported everything here." Luke looked at them feeling better about having something done, "What's next? Do we just go back to Sheridan already?"

"Yeah, of course." Anise gave him a look.

"Right now?" Anya suddenly asked and they turned to her, "I mean, we've been journeying straight for six days and done quite a lot of work in a very short time. I know that's good but isn't all of this taking too much toll on Tear?" she looked at the melodist who backed a bit in finding all eyes on her.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." She told them and Luke rolled his eyes.

"Now you sound like Ion." He told her with a laugh and she eased a bit. They were only worried about her.

"I'm sorry." The fon Master apologized with a smile, "I just don't want to be a burden on anybody." Anise looked at him and knew that this was why she cared so much about him but betraying him at the same time. It all seemed wrong…She didn't have time to dwell on it as Anya went a little dramatic.

"If I was a dreamy young girl, I would be crushing on you and calling you things like my knight in shining armor." Anya told him and he laughed while Anise glowered.

"Watch it!" she whispered to Anya who patted her head with a laugh, "Don't tell me you got bored with the Colonel." Anya turned away as if she didn't exist and walked away to join Lezard instead.

"I suppose you had other reasons as well for staying back." Jade told her in a knowing tone and then turned to the others, "Anya was just saying how she would love to give us a tour of her grand manor." Anise squealed, Luke gave a high five to her since Guy wasn't in a mood for that and Ion smiled happily. Anya shook her head in mild annoyance. Well, it wasn't exactly the way she had wanted to be but Jade had a way of being direct and convincing t the same time.

"I will be going then." Lezard told them and they were on their way to Anya's house.

"It's not a manor the way Jade was exaggerating." Anya told Anise who had been bombarding her with questions.

"The Colonel's like that, you know." The young girl commented and jumped a foot high when Jade came from behind.

"Exaggerating?" he asked, "Well, you never seem to be fond of anything that's normal, we older and much matured people have to adjust to being childish at times." Anise growled.

"I am not childish." She shouted and Luke laughed out.

"Since when? Look at you, you're tiny." He commented and Guy glanced at him for a second then turned away. It wasn't any of his problems anyway if Luke chose to be rude to Anise even though he was probably just kidding around. It wasn't his fault either that he kept getting to Guy, everything the duke's son did was annoying to a level that was intolerable. Funny how none of this had ever bothered him before.

"This is so totally cool." Anise was saying, "We visited Luke's manor, Tear's house and Natalia's palace-" she looked up suddenly when she felt a tug on her hair lightly and turned to see Guy with a shaking hand. Had he just actually touched her? Even though it was the hair, it was a start. She understood her mistake when Guy pointed towards Natalia who was walking with a hurt look.

"I'm sorry." Anise said timidly, "I didn't mean to." Natalia shook her head trying to be normal as she followed the rest of the group.

"Natalia." The princess turned around to see Guy calling her and motioning beside him. She was a little surprised but smiled and joined him. Guy took up the rear after Natalia and he made sure no one bothered the princess keeping her away from the rest of the group. She didn't need all of this, it was a difficult time. But they would have to go back to Baticul and that day couldn't be avoided, no matter how much Natalia tried.

**So, how was it? It will be SyncAri although I love SyncOcs. Reviews….**


	24. Chapter 24

This used to be an author's note.I guess it's okay to be selfish for reviews ryt????SO i'll put this back and put up ch 24 as 25th one.


	25. Sweet petals

Chapter twenty four

"Get back to bed will you?" Anna controlled her anger at the child who stubbornly continued to sit and glare at her.

"Mama's coming home." Tristan told her for the zillionth time, "I have to do something special and it's not my bedtime yet." He reminded her and she stood up from the chair making it fall behind.

"She's not coming home." She answered, "She left without saying anything to you, don't you get it? She's travelling all over Auldrant with new friends, Tristan. She has other people to care about now." The little boy looked a little devastated for a second but stood up huffing.

"You're lying." Was all he said before turning to a redhead who seemed about the same age, "Come on. Let's go get someone else to tie up these flowers." He was walking away when his friend called out.

"You heard Anna. Your mother isn't coming back." Tristan whirled around.

"What's your problem?" he asked with a frown.

"My problem is that I don't like your mother." The other boy replied cockily.

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"We're here, are we?" Natalia looked up at the clean looking two story building. Not necessarily a mansion but it could accommodate a large number of people comfortably enough.

"WOW!" Anise looked up, "There's no way in the world you could live like that if you aren't rich." She pranced up to Anya and fluttered her lashes, "Would your brother happen to be here at the moment?" Anya laughed a little.

"He's probably up in his room." Anise's eyes lit up. "Locked inside with one of his girlfriends." Anya said and the teen pretended to look horrified.

"Oh no! Now I have to get as big as Tear." Anise announced as loud as anyone could get and ran up to the blushing brunette.

"So, what's your secret?" she asked with a gleam in her eyes and Tear went even redder if possible.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She replied when the teen intervened.

"Being naïve?" she said sweetly and staked off to Anya. "What about you? You know, your secret." She added so the woman wouldn't be able to escape the question.

"It's all salad I guess with a bit of pixie dust from the planet-" Anise glared at her and hit her hand lightly.

"I won't get a straight answer from you right away." She announced grimly, "I suppose you do learn a lot from the colonel." She mumbled making Luke glance from Anya to Jade. Could something possibly be up with those two? He couldn't imagine Jade as someone who would ever actually hold a woman unless he was in a battle against her, which wasn't the kind of thing he was thinking about in a relationship. His thought broke when Noelle suddenly spoke up.

"Anya, actually-" she hesitated a little, "It's Selphie. She kind of invited me to spend the night over at her place. You know like a slumber party and all that." She informed the woman who laughed at her. "W-what is it?" she asked.

"Well, I don't mind you doing whatever you want to, honestly." Anya replied, "But Selphie is not exactly known to be

As soon as Anya pushed open the door there was a loud crash as if someone had fallen over a table or something and the group stopped for a moment when a young boy's voice could be heard.

"You think I don't know why you don't have a dad?" it said and Anya's eyes widened. Could something really have gone wrong between Tristan and his friend? She hurried her pace and on her way to the entrance found a young man who looked hardly a year younger than her. He turned his dark head towards her and gave a surprised look at her direction.

"Hey! I didn't think you'd ever come back." Was the first thing he said checking to make sure if she was even real. Anya smiled softly at him. Rin's boyfriend. She felt for him but there was nothing much she could say to make him feel any better. They had both lost a person important to them.

"I'll go in and make sure if everything's alright." Anya told him and he nodded.

"I should come with you. That's my nephew in there with your little boy." He was one of the very few people who knew about the actual situation.

"Oh yeah." Tristan shot back, "You don't even know her. What are you talking about?"

Anna still sat in her place her eyes switching from the two boys every second. Really, things did seem to be taking a big turn. She wondered if one of them would end up being hurt. Nothing would please her more than Tristan's friend being the subject, that boy had attitude and had refused to even give any hint he had seen her when she talked to him. Hell, he was even more bothersome than Tristan.

"Well I've heard a lot about her from my mom." He replied. Anna's eyebrow rose. Whatever he was about to say wasn't good. His mother, Veronica was way too full of gossip. Scandalous ones. Only thing was, she really needed to learn how to keep herself from saying things like that in front of her son who was hardly reaching his eighth birthday.

Anya opened the door and entered a little nervously when everyone's eyes turned towards her and Tristan's friend smirked.

"Whore." He spat disgustedly and Anna's eyes widened. She had expected so much knowing who this boy's mother was but it was still astonishing. Anya only frowned slightly with her teeth gritted. So this stupid boy knew about her. Well, that would mean Veronica knew way too much and she didn't fancy knowing what sort of stories that woman would pull up if they were ever to meet anytime soon. At any rate a small smile came to her when she saw Tristan run back to his friend and hit him squarely with all that he had. Anna stood up, enjoying the sight for a second but if someone didn't intervene then things wouldn't go too well. Anya stood her place for a second longer and then entered normally as if nothing had happened and pried off Tristan from his friend who was bleeding from the nose. Zell and Anna sure had done a good job while she was gone. She turned to smile at her sister who merely scowled at her direction and stalked off upstairs.

"Why don't you go back to where you came from?" Anya told the other boy and as Rin's boyfriend came in looking shocked, she simply faked a smile in his direction. "He needs to be tended to. I hope you don't mind but I'm exhausted and really don't need any more guests at the moment." He nodded and took hold of the boy n the ground and headed outside. He turned a last time.

"I'm sorry for his behavior." He really did look upset about all of this. Maybe they weren't friends but good acquaintances at least. Anya didn't show any inclination that she had heard him at all and looked down at Tristan still trying to keep her face expressionless but the little boy didn't miss the tears tat were threatening to spill from his mother's eyes.

"Mama." He whispered, "I'm so sorry." He hugged her tighter when she sat down on one of the sofas. "I didn't mean to, but I just told him that I didn't have a dad. He did die in a war, right?" he asked her and she nodded then pulled him to her.

"Mama." He whispered again, "This is for you." He pulled out a bunch of flowers that he had no doubt picked up recently. Anya stared at them as if to ask 'for me?' and then accepted them with a wide smile. It was truly one of the few nicest things anyone had done for her recently. The only sad part was she felt guilty about all of this. It was her own fault, her mistake that had caused so much trouble for Tristan. He had to be the one facing the disgrace for her doings.

"You've grown so much." She told him in a normal tone not at all giving away any hints of her tears. She pulled back when she saw Anise peeking through the door.

"Come on in. I'm sorry I forgot with all this drama." She smiled and introduced Tristan to Anise whom he immediately took a liking to.

"I think girls look nice when they have their hair like that." He told her and led her away from the rest of them, "I heard about you from Elena." At the mention of the girl, she came bounding down the stairs. At the sight of Anise she flew and hugged her.

"You came. Oh my god, this is so amazing." She looked at the others, "Jade, did you miss me?"

"Not as much you'd expected me to. You see, I had no time at all to think about silly-"

"No fair." Elena interrupted, "I've been trying to think of every way I can to impress you and this is the first thing you tell me?"

"You asked first." Jade told her and she shook her head, and then hugged Anya.

"It's nice seeing you here again." She told her with a smile. Anya smiled and shoo-ed her off upstairs and then turned to the others.

"I'll ask Laree to fix up something for dinner and Tristan, leave Anise here right now." The boy sighed and let her go.

"Yeah." Luke cheerfully let out, "I'm starving." Guy looked at the redhead with a small smile that soon disappeared when he turned away but not before Jade noticed who shook his head to show that he had just found something amusing but kept the serious fact hidden to himself. Things didn't look too good for Guy concerning the duke's son and if things were to get bad then he would rather not have Guy on Van's side. With a teacher like the commandant he showed promises of being a full-fledged swordsman.

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"Tomorrow morning we will go back to Sheridan to get the Tartarus and then-" Natalia was planning when Luke fidgeted a little and gained her attention, "What is it?" she asked kindly.

"Well." He started, "All of this will bring a major change to the world so is it alright to proceed with our work without letting anyone else know?" Natalia blinked at him.

"What do you mean?" she asked and Guy answered.

"Are you saying that Emperor Peony ad King Ingobert should be informed about this?" he asked in a voice that didn't quite belong to him and this time everyone noticed the slight hostility and Guy cleared his throat to try and change back to his normal self.

"G-guy?" Luke looked up from his seat, "What's wrong?" he asked with concern but Guy just smiled.

"Sorry, I'm just a little tired." He replied and softened the look in his eyes when he saw that Luke was really concerned. The duke's son was doing a good job of keeping out of his way; did he really deserve this sort of behavior from him?

"Right." Jade intervened, "You're all still young and so let's get on with our plans for tomorrow. The Sephiroths wouldn't wait till we're ready to fall."

"We know that." Anya replied in an alarmed tone. Really, did he have to scare all of them that way as if seeing the Sephiroths and the unending void beneath them wasn't enough to dizzy her?

"Yes." Tear finally got back to the topic, "I think Luke's right. But for that Malkuth and Kimlasca has to join hands and-"

"But for that we have to go to Baticul." Natalia's voice rang out in the empty room and she looked down.

"We know this is hard for you." Anya told her kindly, "But they deserve to be saved, the people of Baticul I mean."

"Exactly." Luke told Natalia, "They protected us with their lives. It's up to us to save them this time." Natalia still didn't look convinced.

"I know I should be agreeing with you all but-"she looked around and then turned to Luke, "I'm sorry for being such a coward but I need time." Jade stood up with a rare smile at the Princess.

"Then you shall have it. Till tomorrow morning then." He turned and headed where Anya had earlier shown the way to everyone's rooms.

Natalia headed off to the room she would be sharing with Tear and Luke turned hopelessly to Tear who sighed.

"I guess we will have to wait until she has decided. We don't have a choice Luke." She told him when he was about to argue.

"She's right." Guy told him and headed off towards where Jade had. Luke continued to stare at his best friend's back. What was it with Guy recently? He felt guilty again just like the time when Guy had had the curse slot. Was it all his fault again?

Anise yawned, "Okay then, time to get my beauty sleep. I still have to steal away Luke from you, you know." She told Tear who blushed and was about to reply but Anise had already sprinted away to the stairs. Anya laughed and they both went away.

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Florian plopped down on the bed feeling something he couldn't describe. He wanted to almost scream out and bang anything in his way. He would have to ask Arietta what it meant later. Tomorrow, he smiled. Finally he would be able to see his friends again. Sync and Arietta had both been busy with work the past week and he had been staying inside ever since. He took up the book that Arietta had called a 'dictionary' and then closed it again. He had learnt a few words but it just got boring after sometime.

He heard a noise outside his door and his ears perked up. Was he getting a visitor? Could it be one of Mohs's guards?

A knock came and he tried looking under the door which proved to be useless. The door suddenly opened with a bang and he fell back in surprise.

"What were you doing?" Sync asked from the doorway and Florian beamed widely after getting over his shock.

"It's you?" he asked, "I was getting so lonely. Where's Arietta?" he asked and Sync felt a little irritated. Why did it always have to be her anyway? Who would want a whiny little brat like her but it irked him again when she came in with a smile and Florian ran to hug her, almost lifting her off her feet. His eyebrows drew closer at the sight of those two but thankfully no one could see that. He stashed his hands in his pockets and cleared his throat.

"If you're done with your love acts, can we get to the main reason for our visit?" he asked in his usual careless tone and Arietta frowned.

"Sync, what's your problem? We're seeing Florian after so many days; let us at least relax for a while." She reasoned making Sync turn around fast. She had started talking back to him a little these days. What had brought the change in her anyway? Damn it, the previous Arietta had been good in one way, she would never ever argue with another one of the God-Generals but he couldn't say he had enjoyed having her around much at the time. Was it the fact that she could feel as if she had her Ion with her when she was with Florian? He didn't even want to know her reasons and least of all, why did he care so much.

"I didn't come to waste my time for chitchatting here." He replied and made his way outside only to turn back and see the two holding hands and strolling behind him in a slow pace. He turned front again and strutted away in his usual stride.

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Anya looked back at the house to make sure no one was following and then made her way in a slow pace, checking every now and then to remain alert for any bandits. Not that they were popular around here much but a young woman out at night sure could face a lot of problems. After sometime, she reached her destination and pushed open an iron gate that had been kept in a surprisingly good condition and stepped in. Among the rows of graves she searched for one, one very important to her. After a few seconds of scanning in a section that looked new and cleaner than the rest she found the stone with her friend's name on it.

She offered a few moments of silence in Rin's name and was suddenly jolted out of her reverie when there was a crunching noise behind. She immediately whirled around sensing danger, her heart racing.

"It's just me." The voice came in an amused tone, "It's not my custom to hurt pretty young woman those like you." Anya hissed angrily.

"Lezard, what did you think you were doing scaring me like that?" she asked a little angrily and then looked down at Rin's grave, "I didn't get anything for her." She told him and he nodded. There was a flash of purple in front of him where his hands were conjuring up something and then out came a bouquet of tulips prettily arranged. She smiled and placed it on the grave, then turned to him.

"It's too late for you to be here." Lezard told her and they made their way out of the area in the cold. Anya shivered slightly as she approached home and hesitantly wrapped her hand around her former fiancés arm.

"Lezard?" she wondered how best to tell him.

"Yes? I something the matter?" he asked concernedly, his eyes piercing through the glasses.

"I-it's about Tristan." She told him and he nodded, "When I'm gone tomorrow, it will be for another few months."

"Is it necessary for you to be there?" he asked, "It was a mistake, an accident that got you involved in this journey. You've done your part and I'm sure no one would hold it against you if you were to drop out of the adventure now." Anya looked at him and then shook her head.

"I would." She replied, "I feel some sort of responsibility, something like a duty to see this whole thing till the end." Including what ends up happening to me and Jade. She kept that thought to herself. Besides it was more of a hunch, something she couldn't explain to herself, the reason why she needed to be on this journey. It seemed important somehow as if something was calling her to unravel something.

Lezard looked at her for a few seconds unnerving her and she took a deep breath.

"I need you to keep watching over Tristan." She told him. "If I- if I don't come back-"

"You will be back." Lezard interrupted before she had voiced her thoughts as she slowly began getting the full idea of the consequences that might occur on the way. "And soon." Anya smiled.

"Would you look after him then?" she repeated.

"Of course." He replied, "I'll look after him as I would my son." He told her with a smile and Anya's eyes widened. It had to be a coincidence, he hadn't meant it really. It was just a way of making her feel better. There was no way in the world he could've known that Tristan was his son, right? He took her face in his hands gently and pressed his lips to her making her feel guiltier than she had ever done before. Maybe he had a right to know about everything. Why did she keep so much from him anyway when he acted like the perfect guy? She pulled away with eyes cast down.

"I-I have to go back." She told him, "There's a lot to do tomorrow." Lezard nodded and let her go back inside while he turned away, his cloak swishing behind him.

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Freya took a last look at the hand mirror with loathing at the image on the glass and then grabbed a tiny knife from the desk. The door to the conference room opened and the blond God-General came in.

"What are you doing?" Legretta asked eyeing the knife in Freya's hand, wondering if she had decided to take her own life having nothing much to do in the world.

"Giving myself a makeover." The violet haired god-general informed her, "care to join?" she pointed to the neighboring seat and Legretta raised an eyebrow.

Freya shrugged and then took hold of a section of her hair and chopped it away leaving Legretta puzzled but she didn't show it.

"What is the meaning of this?" she looked at the hair on the ground.

Freya looked up at her and smiled, "I got bored so I'm giving myself a new look." She replied not letting her comrade know that there was much more to the whole idea. This was a way of getting herself rid of her old image, name and altogether be a new person. And every time she felt anger surge through her at the thought that Anya had lost all of her memories and gotten what she herself had wanted for so long, a new identity. The knife worked violently on her hair until it came to a shape she thought looked good on her and gave her a total change in her looks. Legretta only gave her a look.

"You do remember that we will be paying the old researchers a visit in the afternoon?" Legretta asked Freya who nodded and fixed the eye patch on her left eye and arranged a few of her bangs over it to keep it from view.

"Yup, totally." She replied and Legretta left. She smiled into the mirror finally.

"I work as an Oracle Knight in a high and respectable rank of The God-Generals who are out to put the people of the world in their places." She spoke into the mirror and flicked a bang, "I'm God-General…Cantabile." She whispered with a smile. "Cantabile the…I'll decide that later." And she stood up with her sword at her side, satisfied for the first time in a long time with the way her life was going.

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"When will you be back?" Tristan asked Anya from his place on her lap and she sighed.

"It will take some time but I promise I'll try my best to make it soon for you." She told him and he frowned then smiled and hugged her.

"Yeah, just take care of yourself." He told her and she laughed.

"You do that too, young man." She ruffled his hair and then kissed him on the cheek, "Well, this is where it gets off-limits for you so get going now." Tristan smiled and waved to her till they were a speck in the distance.

"Where did Jade go anyway?" Luke asked the others who looked around for the said Colonel.

"He wasn't present at breakfast either." Anya said as she went through the scribbled letter they had found at the table informing that he had gone forward before them and not to wait for him.

"So you did manage to make it early huh?" Luke asked the pilot who nodded exuberantly once they reached the aerodrome.

"It took me some time to wake Selphie up. I was worried I'd be late so I had to keep waking up in the middle of the night a lot of times." Noelle told them and Jade sighed.

"It's not that early though." Jade's voice came from behind as he strode towards the group, "We are behind schedule."

"By fifteen minutes?" Anya questioned with a smile.

"It wouldn't do to have you pilot when you're in such a state." He told her taking in her slightly tousled hair.

"I-it's okay." She blushed furiously, "I mean it, and I'll be fine. I am totally rested." She made her way to her seat and started the Albiore. Jade smiled behind his hand and they all made their way into the aircraft.

"You had to scare her that way?" Anya asked the Colonel who gave an innocent look.

"I don't understand what you're suggesting." He replied and she sighed then let out a surprised cry.

"Hey!" Anise exclaimed with her eyes large, "Am I seeing things or is it really the king?" Indeed King Barbarossa was on his way to the Albiore flanked by Laguna, Lezard and two royal guards.

"I didn't know he was coming to see us off." Natalia commented as they all peered through the windows.

"And what's Anya's boyfriend doing here?" Anise asked slyly glancing at Anya who glared at her.

"For the last time Anise, he is NOT my boyfriend." She told the teen and when she was about to reply, she took hold of Mieu and stuffed him into Anise's hands. "Take care of him" she said sweetly and then turned back to the scene.

Jade motioned for all of them to get out of the way and led the king inside as if he had known about all of this…wait! Anya looked at the brunette and then leaned closer to Luke.

"Do you think he knew about all of this?" The redhead thought for a moment.

"Probably." Guy answered "But then Jade never does seem nonplussed by anything."

"His Majesty will be accompanying us according to our plans of having all the rulers present as witnesses to the peace treaty being signed." Jade told them and then smiled innocently as all of them stared at him, "I gathered you were all aware of it. No? Well, I suppose you would care to wake up earlier from now on."

Anise groaned when she realized that Jade had gone to the castle before them and spoken on their behalf ad made decisions accordingly. They all settled down with the King occupying the front seat and Anya whom Jade had asked in a fake tone of honoring her to sit with the king. Anya glared at the said Colonel and settled down. Anise yawned and was asleep by the time the Albiore was in flight, so quiet was the aircraft with the king present but then it was a good thing for the teen who didn't take much liking to being up in the air and would give anything to be back on her feet.

When Anise woke up next which was due to Mieu jumping on her lap, she saw water around her and woke with a start.

"Grand Chokmah?" Luke asked Jade who explained that they would inform Emperor Peony of their plan and leave King Barbarossa in his care. When they were all about to leave for the palace Jade stopped them.

"It would save us time if our lady companions would rather not visit the Emperor, with the exception of Natalia of course." He ended with a sigh. How he didn't want to explain each and everything to the group…but sometimes, even Guy couldn't do all the explaining.

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"Tear!" Luke's cry rang out as she fell to her knees in the middle of healing the redhead after their recent battle which Jade had recommended so they could use their heads wisely for creating new artes taking advantage of Field of fonons and such.

"I'm alright." She panted feeling tired than ever. She had never been like this, and then what was the reason for this sudden spasm?

"We have to get her to a doctor." Mieu chirped as he too put his skills into action burning up what little monsters came in their way while they were busy looking after Tear.

"It's nothing much." She told them, "I will be fine." She tried first aid but that was causing her to get even more tired.

"Hold on Tear." Natalia sat beside her, "Let me heal you."

"We can't delay a doctor appointment any longer." Guy said ad Jade nodded. At this rate it would be best to do so or they could end up losing their best healer.

"We should've had a check up at Midgard." Anya said but Anise shook her head.

"It didn't seem so serious then." She said worriedly and looked at Tear, "You're going to be alright, right?"

"Of course Anise." Tear said a little surprised by the girl's concern. They had never been that close mainly because Luke had been a subject which Anise had been possessive about before.

Ion thought for a while, "I suppose at the moment I could be the only form of help for getting into any of the countries without anyone putting up a fight." The others nodded.

"So how about w e head over to Belkend?" Guy asked, "I'm sure the governor would be willing to help out the Princess and the Duke's son." Luke smiled sadly.

"I'm not the Duke's son Guy." He told him, "It's Asch and Natalia's in a similar condition right now too."

Guy suddenly felt bad about the way he had been treating Luke lately. It hadn't seemed so but the redhead had probably been in a mess just like him. He had always been Luke's best friend, always the one who would go back for him and now at a time like this he had been abandoning him…without realizing it he had been hurting his best friend all along.

"I don't think anyone except the immediate people of Baticul know anything about that leaving out Mohs of course." Jade told them and then pushed his glasses in place, "Actually if the cause for Tear's poor health is the miasma as the Uniceros in Tataroo Valley predicted then we should try investigating it."

"As in measure the amount or something like that?" Anya asked and he nodded.

We have to visit one more Sephiroth and we can confirm the source of Tear's-" he was about to explain when Luke cut in.

"But she can hardly cast artes or heal any of us." he said indignantly, "She can't even-"

"It's alright Luke." Tear intervened, "The Colonel's right, unless we are sure of anything it's not wise to take a break on our journey even if it's a doctor check up." She walked away to the front with everyone staring at her back wondering if she would fall backwards any moment and Jade chuckled.

"It seems she's in a mood for adventure." He commented, "How I wish I was that young." He followed Tear motioning to the others that they too should board the aircraft too.

"So where to now?" Noelle asked them and Jade pondered on it while checking out the map they had obtained from Sheridan.

"Are there any around Keterburg or Daath?" Guy asked Jade, "I mean the Sephiroths could be spread over the world almost anywhere."

"The Meggiora highlands Sephiroth would give us a two way advantage for us." Jade pointed out, "Firstly, we could finish up our work of lowering the land, getting enough data about Tear's blood fonon and then retrieve the Tartarus."

"But we'll have to get the peace treaty signed, remember?" Anise told him and he frowned lightly. Anya smiled. Well, someone didn't like being treated as forgetful.

"Which is our priority, yes." Jade said, "We cannot carry out our operation without their majesties' consent."

"They didn't bring me here before." Ion told them, "the God generals I mean so the seal should still be there on the door."

"You're set for it huh?" Guy looked at the Fon master who shrugged.

"Jade would have us visit one or the other Sephiroths anyway." He replied, "We could check on the one in Meggiora Highlands."

"Even if it would give us the advantage Jade talks about, it's going to be a tedious journey travelling through the sandy area." Anya pointed out as she too pored over the map, "We can't just start the operation soon after we go through the Sephiroth."

"Yup." Anise nodded, "We'll need all the rest we can." She glanced at Tear and Luke did the same.

"Tear especially." The redhead commented and Tear sighed.

"Luke, I told you I'll be just fine. There's no need to worry about me so much." She told him in a slightly annoyed tone. She was a soldier, one who had better things to do than worry about her health all the time. Her illness had never hindered her from work before but then she hadn't had many to start with.

"Now you're beginning to sound like Ion." Guy told her with a smile, the first one in a long time.

"Alright, Meggiora Highlands is it then?" Jade chirped in a fake tone which made almost everyone groan. He shrugged, "We might as well clean up everything while you all are young." He made his way to the pilot's seat to inform Noelle while the others stared.

"Is it just me?" Anise started, "Or did the Colonel really make another comment about us being young?"

"Maybe he's finally felt it you know." Anya grinned, "He's really getting old and is having the effects."

"Well, what do you know?" Guy laughed, "Being senile comes with old age they say."

"Guy, I heard that." Jade came back with a saccharine smile that was enough to scare off Guy scurrying to find a seat as far possible from the colonel.

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Anise yawned as again as she glanced back at the compartment at the back of the aircraft that was used only when someone needed to be alone to clear out their head or simply want some time away from the rest of the group. Maybe she could just go in there making an excuse and report to Mohs. Yes, that seemed good enough. Now for the reason…

"Hey, I'll be back." She tried in what she felt was an upset look and hurried off to the compartment but not before feeling Jade's eyes on her and heard Natalia and Anya ask if she was okay. That did it. Good one Anise she congratulated herself.

The teen sat down and checked again to make sure no one was coming her way and was about to write when she remembered that a new bottle of ink was probably in one of the others' bag. Now what? She looked around her bag and found and almost empty bottle and decided that it would do if she wrote down everything in points. She dipped the quill and was about to place it on the paper after checking to make sure no one was coming when her elbow caused the bottle to overturn. Damn it, damn it! What was the problem today? Lady Luck just wasn't on her side today. She was one who was always good with lucks but it looked as if she wouldn't be for today.

She heard a voice… Anya's? Oh no! She picked up the bottle fast and tried covering the inky mess with something but was unable to find anything and the door opened to her trepidation.

Anya stood with a pack of cookies in her hand and stared at the girl in front who seemed to be looking down as if guilty about something, "What's up Anise? I got cookies for you, they help getting rid of depression" she smiled warmly, "You looked like something was wrong so I…" she looked at the ink, "were you writing to somebody?" she asked normally and Anise looked almost terrified. Did she have any idea of what she was doing?

"Y-yeah I mean no…" Anise left her sentence hanging there, "Just don't tell anyone about it." Anise pleaded knowing full well she could count on Anya to keep her word who nodded.

"Alright." The woman sighed, "I won't ask what this is all about Anise."

"Is something the matter?" Anise cursed inwardly as Jade's voice came around the room. He was the last person she wanted anyone to have any idea about anything. He was one who could put two and two together faster than anyone else and he wouldn't hesitate to make a notion abut Anise's doings while the others would be convinced that she was their friend and wouldn't do anything to jeopardize them.

Anya looked at Anise's pleading face and smiled at Jade, "There was a recipe for a cake that only the Tatlins know how to make so I asked her to write it down for me." Not a good one but it would do, well it would have if it wasn't Jade who didn't look convinced at all but let it go. Anise laughed airily.

"Yeah, that's right." The teen edged towards the door, "Now I'll just leave you two up to whatever dirty tricks you have in your mind." She had been wrong earlier, lady Luck was definitely on her side like all other times.

"Anise." She called out, "Just wait." She mumbled under her breath when she was gone with the door closed behind her and she blinked when she realized that she was stuck with Jade…alone. She stood up and smiled the same one she had been since the morning, the one that seemed fake and plastered.

"Well, I'll be going too." She told him and reached the door when he spoke up.

"I don't know what Anise is keeping from us." Jade said slowly as if to make an impact on her, as if it was all her fault that Anise was keeping something from them. "But if you insist on being so lenient with her I hope she won't get us killed."

Anya turned back to him, "What do you mean? Anise would never do something like that." She said forcefully but then had a second thought. Could Anise really be as Jade…No! But then she couldn't make up her mind. It was the same sort of feeling she suddenly had when she was with Lezard after Rin's death. Rin had warned her about her ex-fiancé, very seriously. Now Jade doubted Anise. Could the people around her really be like that? She took the seat which Anise had previously occupied and sighed heavily. It seemed as if everything including Tristan was taking a toll on her too. She looked up finally ridding herself of that smile.

"I don't know Jade." She whispered, "I don't want Anise to be the way you're suggesting but if you're right…"

"We can worry about that later." Jade told her when he realized how much she was under the pressure too. The last thing they needed right now was anyone losing their heads.

Anya looked up, relieved to hear that, "Yeah, we have big task ahead of us. Will we be checking up on the Tartarus on the way?" She asked and he nodded.

"I did think about it." He replied, "I'm afraid the God-Generals might attempt something to stop us so it would be better if we could move the Tartarus somewhere else."

"Like Belkend?" Anya asked and Jade smiled.

"You're catching on fast nowadays." He grinned and she sowed.

"Hey, what do you mean 'nowadays'?" she rested her face on her hands and took a good look at him. He was as handsome as he could get. Always the one to distract her and maybe that's why she had stopped looking fully at him she realized. But again she did want something more than friendly to go on or at least see if things were going to work between them before this journey was over.

She walked over to the door to avoid anymore thoughts. Anise was right about that alright. She placed her hand on the door knob when Jade held it in place and she turned back to find him closer than necessary and smiled when she was flattened against the door.

"There's nothing to worry about." Jade told her, "I'm a complete gentleman."

"Says who?" Anya eyed the locked door. "You really are getting old." She commented keeping her eyes downcast, "Perverted and old just so goes together." He chuckled.

"It's not as if you don't like it this way." He told her and she sighed.

"Yeah but-" she pulled him closer which he didn't seem to mind but that was only because almost everyone else was asleep and Anise wouldn't dare to speak a word about anything in fear of her own secrets being revealed and Natalia would take ages to figure out if something was up.

"What's with you all of a sudden?" Anya asked, "It's not like you to be so nice and welcoming."

"Oh I'm hurt." Jade replied mockingly, "Have I not been nice and welcoming before?" he teased and she smiled. It felt good, really nice to be like this. It had been long, long time since she had had a moment like this with anybody, let alone Jade and the best part was that Jade had initiated this himself. Maybe she could look forward to something later.

She slipped her hands around his neck and crushed herself to him almost in a needy fashion even though it seemed un-lady like but she could live this moment her entire life. It was….too good to be true, for this time she could forget all about Lezard, her misgivings about him and just about everything. The only thing was, she was afraid Jade would reject her and she didn't think she would have the strength it took to face him again. She wouldn't force him into anything; she had done it once and paid for it in a way her son didn't deserve.

She could still remember the time she had still been hardly leaving seventeen. Her attitude had been so very different then, a flighty girl who was still learning life with new people and strangers as her family with no recollection of her past. At the time it had been almost three years since she first ended up lost in Midgard but everything still felt new. She hadn't been able to comprehend why Lezard would do such a thing as spend time with another woman after being with her. He had then told her that there hadn't been any sort of promise on his part regarding their relationship. She had avoided him for as long as possible and then later….they had somehow gotten together because she had asked for it. He had given her a chance and promised to make it work. It had been until he had really been found cheating with a secretary of his and she had refrained from letting him know of what he had done to her. Her frustration and her best friends' suggestions told her to keep the entire ordeal of her pregnancy hidden from him and that's what she had done. But now at a time when she had begun to see the different side of life, had grown to someone who didn't think only of herself, she could let go, let go of things dear to her as long as the feelings weren't two sided and so long as she didn't know what it was like to care deeply about someone.

She was….she was falling for him. She knew it had to happen sooner or later but still didn't want to accept it. Once she fell there was no going back. When he pulled back it was as if all the happy feeling was drained from inside and reality rushed back to replace it all. Jade still had a hand on her waist and stroked her cheek with the other. She closed her eyes to savor the feeling wondering what would happen once all the magic was over.

"Don't fall in love with me." Jade whispered and Anya's eyes shot open. He wasn't smiling anymore, "For me this is like every other relationship I have." Anya hated feeling like this. Was he comparing her to the women he could have every other day for money?

"Yeah." She whispered so her voice wouldn't betray her feelings, "All a matter of time and then it's all over. I'll try my best to follow your advice." She told him in a slightly bitter tone when he removed his hands and she felt cold all over.

"It's not worth it." He told her, "You could do with someone far better than myself." He said in a casual tone and was gone before Anya could even look up. She stared at the closed door understanding what he had just said. It wasn't her Jade was trying to hurt. In fact, he had just saved her from it. Somewhere inside, he didn't think he could be worth anyone's feelings. The few moments of sheer contentment were over and she had returned where she had been all along with a small change. There was someone who knew her worth and treasured her for it even if all of that wasn't obvious to Jade himself or anyone else for that matter. She sat down again feeling confused all of a sudden. She didn't know if she was upset anymore or glad about her recent occurrence with Jade.

"Oh! What the hell?" She exclaimed and picked up a forgotten cookie from the packet and munched on it.

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Jade walked out of the compartment casually as if he had merely gone in to check on an engine or something and found Anise's eyes on him with a cocky smile as if to say 'See, I was right'. He smiled at her sweetly reminding her of what he had found her doing and she turned front again playing with Mieu.

Natalia looked around and then turned front again. Clearly she wasn't out of her depression yet. Jade was thankful for the present condition of his comrades even though it seemed a little rude. It wasn't as if he had been trying to get Anya to go for him. It was just a thought that maybe he wouldn't have another chance in his lifetime to be with a woman although he did plan to come back alive from Commandant Grants' fight but even so he didn't want to leave an appalling impression of himself on anyone although he doubted being the Necromancer prevented that sort of thinking on anyone's part. He had caused enough trouble for people in his lifetime, had turned to a murderer literally. He had no intention of being the reason for anyone's distress again and so had stopped Anya before it was too late or at least tried. He didn't have anything to regret except well…flirting around and getting close to serious with a very young girl.

Luke yawned and stretched, "Are we there yet?" he asked Tear who was still sitting normally as if she hadn't slept throughout the entire journey.

"Almost." She replied and woke up the others.

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"I remember the last time we had to come here." Guy muttered with a shaky laugh. Anise grinned.

"Oh yeah, you had to carry Elena right?" she laughed as if it was hilarious. Guy shuddered.

"Don't remind me." He told her and the others laughed despite the seriousness and heat engulfing them.

"I hope we never do have to come back here." Anya muttered, "I'm glad we didn't plan on carrying out our operation with the Tartarus after this." Guy nodded and Luke smiled.

"Hey guys!" he said cheerfully, "On the bright side, we're getting lot of work done and we got the reason for Tear's sickness too." Tear looked at him in surprise. When did Luke become so protective of her? She could take care of herself but she found it likeable. Honestly, she was fine with him being so insistent about her condition to a certain extent. But Luke had changed so much since the Yulia City incident when he had vowed to change himself. And truly he was doing a good job of it she had to admit. He was a completely different person than he had been when she first met him.

"Aston!" Luke's surprised exclamation caused the old man to jump in his tracks.

"Oh, it's you all." He said, "Thank goodness I've found you."

"Why?" Natalia asked, "Is something the matter?"

"Yeah, you look bad." Anise muttered so the old man couldn't hear.

"It's Henken and Cathy." Aston said frantically, "They've left for Belkend."

"What?" Anya, Luke and Natalia's cry overlapped.

"You mean they betrayed the Sheridan researchers?" Anise asked.

"No, they were forced to go back." Aston told them, "God-General Legretta was here and she asked us to forfeit our plan and tell them everything we were going to do. We refused and she killed Iemon and Tamara to prove that she was serious."

"No!" There were exclamations from almost everyone.

"This could be bad." Jade said grimly, "If we do not carry out our operation early then there's no hope. What about the Tartarus?" he asked Aston.

"Henken and Cathy took it with them to Belkend." He replied and that caused more surprise.

"How could they do that?" Tear asked still unable to take in that Iemon and Tamara were dead.

"Some circus troupe came around." Aston explained, "Said that Asch had sent them to keep the Tartarus off the God-Generals' hands and they used some sort of ship to get it away while they could."

"Didn't any of the other God-Generals come with Legretta?" Guy asked the old man who nodded.

"Someone who called herself Cantabile was present." He told them and they stared at him.

"C-cantabile?" Luke asked, "Is that a new God-General?"

"Apparently so." Jade answered and then put a finger to his chin, "The best route to choose at the moment would be to Belkend. We could get Tear checked up and talk with the Governor about the researchers' safety."

"Yes." Anya agreed, "Tear does certainly take a priority now." She glanced at the sixteen year old who had almost passed out at the Sephiroth they had just visited. They heard footsteps and then looked ahead to see-

"Spinoza?!" Anise shouted out and they glared at the man after their shocked expressions were gone.

"Eaves dropping again are we?" Anya sneered out of anger and resentment. He had been the reason Iemon and Tamara were dead in the first place.

"N-no I-" Spinoza looked around and then suddenly took off the direction he had come.

"What the-" Luke exclaimed and then ran after the panicked man.

"He got…away?" Natalia looked surprised at the aircraft above their head which looked like the Albiore.

"That's my new Albiore III." Aston exclaimed, "I will not let scum like him touch that aircraft which were all of our efforts." By 'our' he probably meant Tamara and Iemon too.

"You already did Old man." Luke muttered once he stopped.

"There isn't enough fuel for him to get away." Aston told them, "If we hurry we can follow him till Belkend. That's where he will most likely land."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Guy said and they all ran back to their Albiore.

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"There he is!" Anise pointed to the brown speck close by who was running away.

"Mieu!" Luke picked up the creature by the ear and sprinted with all he had. The old man was clearly no match for the red head who gained on him and flattened him in a few seconds.

"So, Old man." Luke smirked lightly, "Now speak up before-" he pointed Mieu beside his head and he breathed fire. Spinoza cowered and pleaded Luke to let him go. Luke stood up and Jade called from behind.

"Not bad for you." The colonel teased, "Considering your usual tactics."

"Give it a rest already." The red head rolled his eyes.

"I-I want to help." Spinoza said in a shaky voice.

"Oh yeah." Anise scorned, "And what makes you think we're about to believe that?"

"Please, I-"

"It was because of you Tamara and Iemon were killed." Aston shouted in a voice as loud as an old man could get.

"I realize my faults." Spinoza countered, "Please, let me help."

"He is an expert physicist." Jade commented, "Let us go to the Governor's place and we can discuss this matter more clearly."  
"What?" Anise looked at him with eyes wide, "Are you saying that you're going to believe this old geezer?"

"We don't seem to have a choice." Guy told her, "Despite his human nature."

"But he could betray us again." Anise countered and Jade sighed.

"True." He replied, "But we need his brains to confirm my theory on the matter of the miasma and the Core's vibration."

"It's alright Anise." Ion smiled, "I think he's telling the truth."

"What do you suppose we do about Tear's checkup?" Luke asked Jade and Spinoza's ears pricked up at that.

"There's a doctor here at the Belkend research facility lab." He informed them, "By the name of Shu, you could have her checked up there." They stared in mistrust but realized they only had to believe him at this point.

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"Please wait outside." Shu told the group as he disappeared with Tear in an inner room. He did the necessary procedures and grimly handed Tear the results of the check up after twenty minutes. Tear looked over it and quietly left for the next room.

She sat down on the bed and closed her eyes feeling fragile even as she tried to remain calm. Her condition didn't show any signs of improving because there was no way for it to. Unless they stopped their work Tear could end up being dead, that's what Shu had told her and was now telling the others whom she could hear from the room. Any moment now they would come in and look at her with pitying expressions…no! Her friends weren't like that. They would understand and leave her to herself. It wasn't as if she was going to wallow in self pity.

"Tear." Luke's voice came softly, "Hey!"

"Luke, what are you doing here?" tear asked him normally, "I guess you heard about me then."

"Stop trying to be so calm about it." Luke almost shouted out at her attitude, "Why do you always have so be so damn strong about everything?"

"What are you talking about Luke?" Tear blinked in surprise at his outburst, "I'm not trying to prove anything."

"Really?" Luke turned to her, "It's alright to show your feelings sometimes." He told her, "It's okay to be scared. It's your life for Lorelei's sake."

"Please Luke." Tear's voice didn't give away the tears that were forming in her eyes, "I just need some time alone." She sounded slightly upset then. Luke looked at her back which was turned in his direction wanting to go and comfort her, maybe even hug her just to make her feel better. He wanted her to stop all of this but knew that they had come too far to back down now and if he did then Tear would never forgive him for it and that wasn't something Luke wanted at all.

"Fine." He said and stood rooted to his spot, "I won't talk but I'm not leaving you alone like this."

"Luke please." Tear sounded almost vulnerable. Well, as vulnerable as she could get. "I don't want anybody to see me like this." She said finally.

"Fine" he repeated, "Then I'll just turn around." And with that he sat down on the bed facing the other way. After a few moments of silence he decided to break it.

"Don't worry." He said, "I'm not going to look at you till I have the permission but I'm not leaving you. Get it? You're not alone." Tear sat numbed by his kindness and realized she couldn't stay mad at him for long. Never.

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"Princess Natalia?" Shu looked at her in a scrutinizing manner, "Is that you?" The golden haired princess turned in surprise.

"Of course." She replied defiantly but then fell back again as she remembered that she wasn't one of the royal blood anymore.

"There's something I need you to see." He stood up, "If you will follow me please." Natalia stared at the doctor as he opened some sort of a secret panel behind his desk.

"W-what are you-"

"There's nothing to be afraid of." The doctor hurriedly answered, "I just don't want the rest of your group to see us. This is something that concerns only you."

They walked out through a narrow passageway which ended up outside the lab. Shu pointed towards an exit and they went that way.

"My house is right here." He told her and she wondered if she should've just stayed back at the Lab but the doctor had sounded serious. Oh well, she would try her best not to get kidnapped but still.

He opened a small hut like house and ushered her to step in, "This way please." He motioned towards a room past the kitchen and Natalia blinked.

"Please go ahead." Shu assured with a kind smile, "I mean no harm." Natalia nodded, her throat still slightly constricted.

She stepped into a small room with the sunlight entering through a large window where the curtains were raised with not much furniture except a reading table and a bed which looked occupied by somebody.

Shu pointed to the bed and she went over to the sleeping figure. After a few moments of looking at her Natalia turned back.

"I don't understand doctor." She looked at him, "What do you want me to do?" The woman stirred and Shu woke her up gently calling her by the name Sylvia. Natalia vaguely remembered hearing that somewhere but couldn't recall.

"It's her." Shu was saying, "I've brought her here for you Sylvia." Natalia's eyes met those of the woman who hair might once have been a beautiful shade of golden like hers but had lost its charm long ago. She sat up and stared at Natalia.

"Princess Natalia?" she asked ad Natalia nodded, "Meryl." The woman said as comprehension dawned, "Oh God, Meryl. I-' she only had tears to shed. Natalia's entire being froze at that. Had she just heard correct?

"This is your mother." Shu told her grimly, "Your birth mother." Natalia stared as the woman wanted to reach out for her. The stranger whom Shu had addressed as her mother.

"My baby." She whispered and Natalia stared at her.

"You've grown so much." she whispered and held her hand. "If you see Badaq jsut tell him-tell him atht i wish i could've seen him once more. Make him proud Meryl."

"Badaq?' Natalia sked surprised taht she still ahd her voice.

"Your father." the woman replied. Suddenly with a rush of energy she turned on her heel and dashed outside not caring to hear her name being called out by Shu or that woman. All she focused on was the light at the door, her escape. She reached outside and panted for she hadn't run like this in a long time. She went around the house and onto the streets anywhere away from them. When she felt safe she sat on a small staircase and shivered despite the heat around her with the woman's image in her head, the woman who had looked like an older version of herself with haunting blue eyes.

**what was taht??!Character revival??Yup. I hope i didn't mess it up. what do you say? Great huh???Hehe. I actually watched eorcism of emily rose yesterday and am in a freaked out mood so i'm aving morbid imaginations and hence i shall depart to carry out with my next story.**


	26. Van's plans revealed

**Oh my!!!It's been like more than a year i guess, it didnt feel like it thogh. try forgiving meokay??!!!^_^.this is quite short compared to my last chapter but i will update the next one soon.**

Chapter twenty five

"I'm sorry." Shu looked at Sylvia sadly knowing full well that she was reaching her time. The only thing that had kept her going was the prospect of seeing her husband or her daughter one last time, the chance to at least talk to any of them would be enough. Shu was glad for her; she hadn't struggled to live for so long in vain. Even so nothing could reduce the anguish in his heart as he felt their parting coming close after all this time. What was it, almost eighteen years now?

She didn't look anything like the woman he had met then, almost a young girl still but in so much pain from the loss of her child. Her husband hadn't been home then and no one could calm her down, not even her own mother. He had been assigned to take care of her health after her delivery bringing over medications to her small house. At the time he had been a doctor of little importance but once, after Sylvia's incident he had prescribed medicines anonymously for Duke Fabre's wife through Spinoza who had been the Fabre's family doctor, she had begun regaining her health and Spinoza had revealed Shu's name not wanting to take the credit for himself. Immediately Duke Fabre had placed Shu in one of the high ranks of doctor in the Belkend lab which he owned and Shu had secretly brought Sylvia along with him from their previous one-room flat.

_Sylvia's mother reported her missing to Doctor Shu when he arrived according to his daily schedule to give her some tranquilizers so as to keep the young woman in check till her husband arrived. Shu immediately checked every possible area in the lower area of Baticul and wished that it would have been smaller. When he reached the sea wondering if perhaps she was running away by sea, he saw a huge group of spectators surrounding and shouting. Making his way to the railings he saw a brunette pulling out a woman from the depths of the sea where the water had become red. Shu took a careful look at the woman in the brunette's arms and realized her as Sylvia. The brown haired man looked like some sort of important man Shu understood when a few Oracle knights came behind him and asked for orders. The brunette handed over Sylvia to Shu who had indicated that he knew her and looked at the doctor seriously._

"_This young woman here." The brunette motioned to Sylvia's body to the doctor, "It was the Score that caused her untimely death." Shu refused to believe that his patient was dead and didn't quite realize the strange manner of the brunette's speech._

"_I shall see to it that she's tended." Shu said and readied to carry her away as fast as he could to Sylvia's house. The brunette stopped him with a cold look and Shu was puzzled._

"_Let her be dead." The stranger told him; almost ordering him and Shu frowned at him._

"_Sir, I do not know who you are but I have a duty to see to her health. At the moment she needs all the treatment I can give her so please excuse me." Shu's speech wasn't rude, just straightforward. He didn't have time to waste on this stranger and hurried away from the crowd. The brown haired man stared coolly and decided to send one of his guards to keep an eye on the doctor. The woman's life could be a danger to his plans and there was no way he was going to let anything stand in his way of gathering an army against the Score. Legretta and Dist alone wouldn't do._

"_Locrian Colonel Grants." An oracle knight saluted Van and the brunette nodded and gave him the instructions to follow Shu. The doctor had to know how serious Van really was. Either he would give up his patient to the oracle soldier or he would flee to save both their lives. Van would give that choice to the Doctor. Either way was fine as long as Badaq only knew the fact that his wife was dead because of the Score. He had luckily found out that this woman happened to be Badaq's beloved wife. Badaq had talked about his wife and the new born girl all the time Van had been with the man on a journey last week._

"You shouldn't be." Sylvia held his hand with a smile, "I should thank you, thank you for everything. For taking care of me, for bringing Meryl to me when I had lost all hopes of ever seeing my daughter." Shu nodded feeling saddened. It was only natural he had fallen in love with the woman since the earlier days. He had done everything he could think of to keep her happy and wished he could've given her more in her short lifetime but Van had threatened him with Sylvia's life and he wasn't one to go against a man like him and jeopardize the woman he cared about the most.

"I can't do anything now." Shu bowed his head and Sylvia smiled through tears in her eyes. What hadn't this man done for her? But even so, her heart belonged to him only…The lion of the desert. Badaq.

"I'm happy. Tell Meryl I'm proud of her." She whispered her final words and with a content smile passed away from the hellish life on this world to somewhere Shu hoped was a much better place than this. She deserved it after all. Shu stood and turned to go back to his office in the laboratory.

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"So…." Anise looked at Ion who looked upset about something, "What's up?" she asked. Ion looked at her and shook his head.

"I'm fine Anise." He smiled and Anise wished he didn't trust her so much. Why were they all such idiots. All of them. They didn't hesitate to include that old man Spinoza in their plans and they never realized her acts although the Colonel sometimes seemed to guess that Anise had some ulterior motive than just being Ion's guardian for the whole journey. She just hoped this journey would soon be over and she could finally stop tagging along with Ion just to report everything back to Mohs. Ion didn't deserve this but she had no choice either. She remembered the last Thanks giving day with her parents so long ago, before Mohs had disturbed their entire life. At the time she would still get mad at Papa for giving away money like candy but now that she remembered those times something hurt deep inside. She hadn't spent a Thanks giving or any other occasion for that matter with her parents. They would hardly get to exchange greetings and a hug at the most now.

"What do we do about Tear though?" the teen asked Ion who looked sad at the subject.

"I wish there was some kind of cure for it but you heard the Doctor." Anise nodded, "Unless…" Ion looked deep in thought and Anise continued to look at him. What would happen to her if something went wrong with Ion? She couldn't imagine guarding any other Fon Master than Ion.

"Hey. Here you are." Guy came in looking around as if looking for something, "You guys saw Natalia around?"

"Now that you mention it." Anya commented following Guy into the room, "I didn't see her for over an hour now." Guy looked scared and Anya looked puzzled, "What?" she asked.

"D-don't follow me around." Guy whispered shakily and Anya rolled her eyes as she realized his problem. Purposely she went past him making him jump a mile backward and cause a table with some papers to topple over. He hurriedly picked up the papers and remained turned the other way when he heard Anise snickering.

"Well well." Jade's voice came through the door, "I never expected to find you in General Grants' office of all the places."

"What?" Anise looked around, "I didn't realize that. The rooms here all look the same." Jade shrugged.

"Or maybe you're just careless." He replied with a smirk and Anise stuck out her tongue at him. "Asch has come all the way here." He waited for everyone to take it in.

"What?!" Anise looked surprised again, "But why?"

"Apparently Van came too so Asch followed him here." Anya told them and they looked worried.

"What does Van want here?" Guy thought out loud, "If it's a fight he's looking for I don't think we stand a chance."

"Let's not jump to conclusions yet." Jade told him and then looked up at the others, "Has anyone except Luke met Tear after the check up?" They shook their heads and looked at each other.

"Is that why Van's here?" Anya asked, "Maybe he knows about her condition."

"But how?" Anise asked and Jade thought on it.

"If it is the miasma from the passage rings we have been activating or rather Tear then maybe General Grants has been having similar effects." He shrugged, "Well that's only an idea."

"But they're both Yulia's descendants." Ion reminded them, "If they both are capable of controlling passage rings then Van's no exception to the side effects of it all."

"If that's the case." Anya looked at Ion, "Then he doesn't seem to care much about his health. Is destroying the world really so important that he'd throw away his life like this?"

"It's scary when you put it that way." Anise shuddered, "But why?"

"Exactly." Guy answered coldly, almost angrily, "How is this revenge for Hod? That's what I'd like to know." Jade pushed his glasses up.

"You both had a little chat recently, didn't you?" Jade asked Guy in a knowing tone and the blonde sighed.

"I guess there's no point trying to hide anything from you." He replied and then looked down, "Yes, Van talked to me. And so did Freya." At that everyone exclaimed surprise.

"You can't mean you know her, do you?" Anya asked Guy who only looked away.

"We were friends." He said, "Van, me and Freya. It was all back in Hod." He stopped and looked at his hands, "But after Hod was destroyed, we lost contact and when we finally meet up, things have changed so much." He looked at them, "She's the new God-general." Everyone save Jade looked a little worried.

"Well, that's one more opponent to face." Jade said grimly but Anise puffed up her small chest.

"It's going to be just fine." She told them, "It just means one more win for us." Jade chuckled and Anya smiled at Anise's attempt to lighten their moods.

"If you put it that way, even I can't resist a fight." Jade told her and motioned for them to go out of Van's office room. He looked at Guy who kept glancing at the papers behind him, frowning a little.

"Is something the matter?" Jade asked Guy who shrugged and was about to look over the papers when Ion suddenly shouted out.

"Asch!" The Fon Master alerted the others and Guy stopped to look back with his hand an inch from the papers. Ion threw a worrying glance at the papers and was glad that Asch had come at the moment.

"And Natalia." Anya announced when she came from behind Asch looking frazzled somehow but she managed a smile at them.

"How's Tear, everyone?" she asked and Anise answered that no one had visited her yet. Jade looked at Asch who glared a little at the colonel and then turned to the others.

"What are you all doing in Van's office?" the red head asked and Anise grimaced a little at the fact that everyone else seemed to understand that this was Van's office and Anya smiled at the girl.

"Looks like you really were careless." She told Anise who smiled at her sweetly.

"Don't go siding with the Colonel now." She told Anya in a chiding manner. Anya smiled to match hers and returned.

"You're talking? I'm surprised Ion still doesn't notice the way you look at him-" Anise hissed and Asch glared at her so she quieted down.

"Did you find Van?" Guy asked Asch who stared at the blonde as if surprised by his good-natured behavior towards him.

"As if I'd tell you anything?" the red head answered, "I have personal business with Van." Guy didn't look too surprised by the attitude. It was probably a payback for the time he had left the redhead noble for Luke who had been unconscious in Yulia City after Akzeriuth. The thought of it sometimes still made Guy wonder if they had been a little too harsh on the seven year old.

Asch turned to go but Natalia reached out a hand and stopped him by the arm. He looked back at her and she stared at him with a pleading look, both looking as if the others had disappeared.

"Asch." Natalia said in a shaky voice, "Come with us. I-I don't think I can take it all on my own." Clearly she was talking about something that only the two of them knew about so the others decided to leave them alone when Asch wrenched his arm from Natalia's grip.

"Leave me alone." He shouted and was about to walk away when another flurry of red arrived and the next second Asch was held by the collar.

"Luke!" Natalia looked in shock and so did Asch. How had this replica-what gave him the right to lay a finger on him? HIM?? When Luke realized his own doing, his grip slackened and Asch threw him with a force only his hatred could give him.

"Asch-" Luke looked up at his original, "I'm sorry-" Asch heaved him up by the collar this time and glared into his eyes, eyes that were the same as his….everything that was his. How dare this second-rate-

"Asch stop it!" Natalia's cry rang out and the two red heads looked at her. Things were getting so tense and Anya hoped some kind of diversion would arrive when Jade finally stepped in.

"I doubt this is the best place or time for a dispute so serious. So if you would please-"

"Shut up with your speech already." Asch snarled at the colonel and then turned to Luke.

"Now look, you replica." He emphasized his last word, "Don't ever think for a second you can do as you like with me, you inferior-"

"This is the last thing I expected." Came Van's voice from the doorway that had just opened and everyone turned to look at the man in apprehension.

"Van!" Asch left Luke and charged towards his former instructor who easily braced Asch's 'Fang blade havoc' and had the red head cornered.

"You're still weak." Van told him without any expression and sheathed his sword back to its original place. "You haven't thought about my proposal?" he asked Asch who replied with a 'hmph'.

"I' not joining you for your crazy dreams if that's what you mean." He answered, "Why are you here?" he asked and Van smiled.

"I suppose it will be a while before Tear-"

"Nothing's going to happen to Tear." Luke interrupted Van, scared by his own impudence but he just couldn't stand the thought of Tear not being there, not scolding him for the littlest things, not cuddling Mieu when she thought no one was looking….What in the world would happen to him if she was to die? Van looked at the replica.

"So you care about what happens to Mystearica?" he asked, "It doesn't seem like it though. Look how you are ready to put her life on the line to save this worthless world." Luke shut his eyes at that. It wasn't like that at all. Master Van was wrong, he was just trying to change his heart, destroy everything him and his friends had been working for till now and the worst part was, it seemed to be working. Guy frowned at Van's approach towards the weakest prey there.

"Give it up Van, Luke's not going to follow you around this time." He answered with a steely look, "He chose this path on his own and we're all with him including Tear."

"Tear herself made the decision of taking you down and saving the world." Jade told Van fixing his glasses.

"The fact that Luke didn't back down after all of Tear's hard work just makes it obvious doesn't it?" Anya asked Van, "He's doing everything he can to make the best of it so none of our efforts go pointless, and so are the rest of us." Van simply glanced at her as though he didn't care. She smiled dryly, "But I guess someone like you wouldn't understand that." Anise looked up at her with a slightly worried but amazed look. Anya didn't usually talk in that older-woman manner. She had to admit, Anya could be pretty cool sometimes.

Van turned around without any hint of caring at all and was leaving when Asch decided to try assaulting him from behind. The red head dashed forward but his effort was once again futile as Van blocked his attack without a scratch. The brunette sneered and threw his former student easily and remained stationary. Everyone stared and wondered what he was up to now.

"Come with me Asch." Van asked once again but was forced to look the other way as Tear approached the group with an astonished look.

"W-what are you doing here?" she asked her brother. He sighed in an older-brotherly manner.

"I see you're not well." He commented and she frowned but he continued, "Tear, Asch. I ask you once more to come join me. Join me to save this world." Asch got up with a smirk.

"Save the world?" Van looked at him and he spoke in a controlled manner, "You're the one destroying it in the first place. If you hadn't started with this plan of yours my life wouldn't have gone messed up." He looked up, his eyes burning with hatred for someone other than Luke. He walked with his sword towards his master and pointed it at him when he suddenly cried out and collapsed.

"Asch!" Natalia ran to his side and began using some healing techniques and he looked up at Van barely able to keep his eyes open. Van smiled a little.

"It's started hasn't it?" he asked the redhead, "You won't be here for long." Anise looked furious and so did Natalia.

"What makes you think you could say something like that?" Natalia glared at him, "Just because-"

"I will defeat you." Asch interrupted and looking Van in the eye, "It's a promise." Natalia looked at him with large eyes as he stood up brushing her away.

"Asch." She whispered but he didn't look anywhere except Van before sheathing his sword and about to leave when Van spoke up again.

"You think I'd let you leave so easily?" he said lazily, "I won't allow anyone to interfere with my plans on destroying Lorelei." Almost everyone gasped at that. How was that even possible??!

"What are you saying?' Tear asked in that disbelieving tone, "What good would it do to destroy Lorelei?"

"Lorelei's existence hasn't been confirmed yet." Jade told him, "You're going forward with a plan that may prove useless."

"That is what you think Colonel." Van said, "Lorelei exists. He is the very reason for all these unwanted occurrences that have been going on for far too long. It's about time to put a stop to it."

"But if you are trying to create a world of replicas and Lorelei was destroyed, there wouldn't enough fonons to complete your plan." Jade tried again. How many loopholes had Van left in his plans? Was this what the commandant was really about to do? If so, then there was no way his plan could work unless…

"Moreover, the core's vibration would make it impossible for life to continue in this world." Anya stated and Jade pushed his glasses with an annoyed look.

"Ah, but we don't quite think alike."Van told them, "I plan to create the replicas, create a new land. A world without Lorelei or the Score."

"A new world?" Luke asked disbelievingly and Jade nodded.

"The data in Ortion Caverns." He said and they turned to him, "We were correct in assuming that the figures were the measure of lands but we never-"

"-Thought they were to be replicated." Asch finished and glared at Van, "You won't get away with this. I'll stop the core's vibration myself if I have to." He closed his eyes for a second in frustration and opened them when Jade spoke up.

"But fomicry isn't complete yet. Replicas that are created may disintegrate even faster if there's scarcity of Seventh fonons." That bit got Asch a little worried and he wanted to ask the colonel what he meant by it but it just wasn't the time. Luke hadn't missed that comment either and seemed a little scared.

"But why?" Luke managed to ask and Anya looked at him.

"Fonons of similar nature have an affinity towards each other. As long as Lorelei is there, it will continue to happen-" she stopped mid-sentence as they realized what Van planned to do.

"So this was what you were after?" Jade remarked with a small smile showing he was quite impressed. They were up against a very more-than-well-matched opponent.

"As Lorelei is destroyed, the replicas will persist and so will the renewed Hod. It will be the perfect reality of our dreams." Van said with a look that horrified the others. He really was delusional, Anise thought.

"Not if we stop you first." Guy told him and he laughed lightly.

"Legretta, Cantabile." He called and the two came from the doorway, the latter smiling.

"How'd you know we were here?" she asked and Legretta frowned.

"We don't have time to be wasting." She snapped and turned to Van, "Your orders?" They all were taken aback by the sudden change in the situation.

"It's time we take down the two remaining scientists." He told them and the group remembered that Henken and Cathy had been here all this time. If something happened to them, their operation wouldn't take place and everything they had done till now….

"Not a chance." Asch said under his breath and looked at Luke with a scowl. "Replica, you keep him occupied. I'll go and do the rest."

"Wait Asch-", Luke looked puzzled. What did he mean by the 'rest'???! Jade smiled a little but immediately had his weapon out when Cantabile turned to them with a smile.

"Sorry kids, it looks like Van wants me to take you all out." She unsheathed her sword as the other God-generals stepped out.

"Before you get in Van's way." Cantabile added and Anya couldn't help looking at the woman who had her eyes covered once again with a sneer.

"Sorry, but we already did." Anya replied with a shrug, "Don't try and stop the inevitable from happening." Cantabile turned to her direction pointing her sword.

"You're annoying." She told her, "I would have loved to kill you first." With that she charged at Anise who thankfully had Tokunaga ready in a battle position but still managed to shield somewhat. Natalia immediately shot her with a star stroke which she deflected with her sword and whirled around to slash at Luke who had thought of taking advantage of the situation.

Jade fixed his glasses, "You fight in the Albert style." He remarked and Cantabile rolled her eyes inwardly.

"You noticed? Boy you're smart." She told him in a sarcastic tone and Jade smirked.

"It's hard not to with an opponent as you are." He said and her mouth thinned to a line

"Well, I suppose somewhere around here you'd be sure to find Noir. Asch is here after all" Anya commented in a way trying to be nonchalant which only angered Cantabile. Natalia looked up at that with a frown.

"That woman?" she asked with slight scorn and a snobbish look as if Noir was trash.

Anise looked at her, "My Natalia! You really-"

"Enough!" Cantabile suddenly shouted as her sword clashed with Luke and Anya's simultaneously. Tear began chanting the incantation for 'Éclair de Larmes' while Anise remained in front of the healer to protect her from Cantabile's attacks. The God-general used a long distance ranged arte aimed at Tear and Anise which caused both the girls to defend themselves. Anise still got a slight cut and Ion looked worried.

"Well, she sure doesn't want to be taken lightly." Jade remarked and Cantabile smiled.

"Keep talking while you can old man." She told him and then fingered the bandages around her eyes. "See this? I'm going to take it off now." Everyone went quiet and wondered if it was just a hoax to let their guard down as they remained in position to attack should Cantabile try anything. She began unwrapping the bandages with a smile.

"Anya, I want you to me watch closely now." The referred woman frowned.

"Why?" she asked, "Do you happen to be drop-dead gorgeous-" she stopped as she clutched her head suddenly.

"W-what's the matter with her?" Natalia asked, eyes wide. Jade looked concerned but otherwise remained on guard.

"What the hell?" Anya managed, stopping between each word. _Damn it_. She couldn't keep her eyes open with the pain coursing through her head as Cantabile opened the bandages then the pain stopped suddenly. Everything stopped, her heart stopped for that second and everyone's eyes widened.

"But….why?" was all Anya could whisper as she stared at her mirror image.

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That's it!!! if u guys still read this *sweatdrop*, then do review!!!They really save the day.


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